Mass Effect Dimensions
by RECKLESS SOLDIER-MS
Summary: Pre-Secret Invasion. An Initiative trainee's destiny and the destiny of two worlds is changed forever. Young hero MVP learns of what it means to be human as his determination is put to the ultimate test, discovering and combating the mysterious Reapers!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I dont own the Avengers Initiative or Mass Effect

This odd pairing was an idea I had for a while but never had the courage to do until now. It's replacing my original Ultimate Marvel crossover idea. Starting at the beginning of Mass Effect 1, this crossover tale tells the story of one of my favourite Marvel characters trapped in the Mass Effect dimension.

Michael Van Patrick (MVP) is not an original character, he first appeared in the Avengers Initiative comics, and spoiler was unfortunately killed off in the first issue. His subsequent clones havent been mentioned or seen since the Siege storyline. In this storline we see some changes in the Mass effect story and changes to the Secret Invasion Arc of the Marvel Universe. Hope Everyone enjoys the fic!

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 1: Anomaly

The track was an escape for him, the pure thrill of the wind rushing through his hair, his heart pounding as he imagined the timer. In terms of stakes he had everything to gain, and a lot to lose. Watching him were some of the most powerful beings in the world, a lot of them were just starting to understand their abilities. But he was just a man, a man proving himself on a marine's style obstacle course. Jumping over fences, crawling under barbed wire and climbing up walls were simple exercises for him. His legs moved with a speed that rivalled Olympic class athletes and his muscles could lift a fair share of weight. But the test today wasn't about strength or speed it was about determination. The only prize was respect and could take him places in a world of ever changing loyalties. Jumping over one last fence he crossed the finish line and fell flat on the ground. His sharp hearing heard the whispers of those around him.

"I don't believe it, he broke the record"

"The guys got to have super speed or something"

He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up. Standing over him was a tall green skinned woman with muscles clinging to her black uniform.

"Great job there kid, now hit the showers" She said.

"Yes ma'am!" The young man said.

At one time he'd been a frail boy, but then his father created a revolutionary diet and exercise routine. It rivalled the super soldier serum that had been created during World War Two. Everyone at the base was either a mutant, an attempt at creating a super soldier or some magical accident that gave him or her incredible power. But he was just a man. When he finished in the shower he got dressed into his camp uniform, a pair of combat fatigues and boots and a blue shirt with his symbol on it. His symbol was a white star with the words MVP written over it. MVP was also his codename.

"Hey Triathlon, where are the new recruits?" MVP asked.

"They were taken to the training room to show off their powers" The African American super hero said.

"Thanks"

He walked out of the changing rooms and onto the camp itself. In the aftermath of the super hero civil war and super human registration act, the Avengers loyal to the government had formed Camp Hammond. The Camp consisted of various departments with the aims of teaching all heroes the qualities and training they needed to complete their jobs. Named after the first super hero Jim Hammond, the camp had a statue of the original human torch. MVP ran a hand over his brown hair as he walked into the block that housed the training facilities. One of the recruits was just finishing her training session.

"So what do I win?" She asked excitedly.

"A whole lot of "shut the hell up and get back up here", acting like some hotshot New Warrior"

MVP chuckled, the training instructor Gauntlet was acting like his usual self again. Today would be a good day!

* * *

Today was going to be a bad day that much Shepard knew. As he walked up to the Normandy's cockpit he couldn't overcome the feeling of paranoia he felt. He wasn't alone, everyone had been uneasy because of their new passenger. The Normandy was the most advanced ship in the Alliance. But it had been a joint project with the Citadel Council. And the official story was that the Turian Spectre Nihlus was there to see if the shake down run went smoothly. Of course only idiots believe the official story.

Shepard walked up to the Turian overlooking the pilot of the Normandy, Jeff Mureau, or as he was mostly called Joker. Joker would rarely be seen outside of the cockpit, Shepard didn't know why but he did know that Joker was a good pilot despite his wise cracks. Sat beside him was Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, a Biotic and career marine. Shepard had seen some Biotics in action, men and women whom could manipulate mass effect fields.

"Thrusters…check, navigation…check, internal immersions sync engaged, all systems online, Drift…just under fifteen hundred K" Joker said as he read through the Normandy Systems.

"Fifteen hundred is good, your captain will be pleased" Nihlus said.

The Turian, a reptilian type alien brushed pat Shepard. Turian's had more ships guarding the Citadel than any other alien fleet. They were a primarily military race although their faces had scales resembling tribal war paint. Nihlus had red and white face scales and wore dark grey and red armour. Turning back to the cockpit, Shepard looked down at Joker and Kaiden.

"I hate that guy" Joker said.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment…sooo you hate him" Kaiden said.

"You remember to zip up your suit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good, I just jumped us half way across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pin head, so that's incredible" Joker explained.

Shepard huffed; one thing he forgot was that Joker was incredibly talkative. He wished he was back with N7 Black ops.

"Besides Spectres are trouble I don't like having them on board, call me paranoid"

"Your paranoid, the council helped fund this project they have a right to send somebody to keep an eye on their investment" Kaiden explained.

'Awe Naïve career marines' Shepard thought.

"That is the official story, but only an idiot believe the official story" Joker said.

'Well at least he's smart' Shepard suppressed a chuckle at the irony of Joker's statement. "They don't send Spectres on shake down runs" He said.

"So there's more going on here than the captains letting…" A sudden beep on the console cut Joker's speech.

"Joker status report" The Captain said.

Captain David Anderson, a great man in Shepard's opinion. Disciplined, broad minded and an alliance hero whom survived more battles than could be counted. It was like the Chief Navigator Pressly would say; it was something along the lines of being able to build a lifestyle statue of the captain with his medals. An over exaggeration but the point was still true, Anderson was a veteran best left to a combat mission, not a shake down run. That was why Shepard knew that there was more to this mission than met the eye.

"Just cleared the Mass relay captain" Joker said.

"Good, find a comm. Buoy and link us into the network, I want status reports fed back to the Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime, also tell Commander Shepard to come see me in the debriefing room" Anderson said.

"Aye, aye captain, better brace yourself sir I think Nihlus is headed your way"

"He's already here lieutenant"

Shepard smirked while Kaiden shook his head.

"Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm. Room for a debriefing"

"On my way captain" Shepard said, turning around and walking back down the CIC corridor.

He knew that Kaiden and Joker were talking behind him. Just like Pressly and Chief Engineer Adams were speculating about Nihlus. Pressly was an old school alliance crewmen, military service ran in his family. He had anti alien views, a foolish concept in Shepard's opinion. Men like Pressly were still cut up about the first contact wars, still thinking that aliens were enemies. Adams however was more open to aliens; military service was in his family but he wasn't tied down by family hatred. Private Jenkins was speaking with the head medical Doctor Chakwas. Jenkins was an overeager marine that had grown up on Eden Prime. The young man was always talking about how he couldn't wait to see real action. Most enlistees felt that way, but when they actually saw the action they would all change their tune.

'Hopefully he wont get in the way' Shepard thought coldly as he stepped into the briefing room.

"Shepard, I'm glad you're here, it'll give us a chance to talk" Nihlus said, crossing his arms over his chest.

A defensive stance, plus Nihlus's facial expression didn't betray any intentions he had. Shepard decided to entertain the man (Turian man) until the Captain arrived.

"What about?" Shepard asked innocently.

Nihlus hid a smirk, he knew of Shepard's background. He was good at playing diplomat but he rarely hid his fury. The man was disconnected, everyone on the ship could die and he wouldn't bat an eyelid.

"I'm curious about this world we're going to, Eden Prime, I hear it's quite beautiful" Nihlus said.

"I've never been there" Shepard said.

There was the disconnection Nihlus was looking for. The Commander wasn't in the mood for small talk, but he was patient enough to bare it.

"But you know of it, Eden Prime has become something of a symbol to your people, proof that humanity can not only establish colonies but also protect, but how safe is it really?" Nihlus asked.

An impatient man would have taken it as a threat. Shepard was a patient man, but he also knew when patience wasn't the answer.

"If you've got something to say then say it" Shepard said.

Straight to business, Nihlus liked that in potential Spectres.

"The galaxy is a dangerous place and your people are still new comers Shepard, is the alliance truly ready for this?"

The door revolved open and Anderson stepped into the room.

"I think its time to tell the Commander what's really going on" Anderson said.

"This mission is far more than a simple shake down run"

The whole crews suspicion had been right. Nihlus analysed Shepard's expression, again he seemed disconnected as he asked for a true report on the mission.

"An excavation team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon, its Prothean"

Shepard knew of the Protheans, an extinct civilisation whose technology had leaped humanities advancement by generations. And not just humanity, every species in the galaxy used technology based on Prothean ideas. The fields known as Mass Effects had led to weapon advancements, ship propulsion systems and the powers that Biotics and engineer class fighters possessed. Shepard himself was a soldier, but his weapons and shields were still based on mass effect fields. He was no expert in politics or science but he knew that a Prothean beacon would advance human technology by years and sharing that technology with the Council would bring the Alliance closer to having a seat.

"The Beacon isn't the only reason Nihlus is here, he's here to evaluate you" Anderson said.

That caught Shepard by surprise.

"What for?" he asked.

"I've put your name forward to the council, the alliance has been pushing the council for this for some time…I've seen your mission reports and your profile, despite growing up on Earth you adapted to life in space very well, the mission you led on Akuze was a grim business but you showed a remarkable will to live, and Torfan…that cold ruthlessness got the job done and sent a message to Batarian slavers, it is for those qualities that I wish to put your name forward as a spectre candidate" Nihlus explained.

"I assume this will be good for the alliance Anderson" Shepard said.

"The Alliance has been pushing this forward for some time, the spectres represent the councils power and authority, if a human were to be granted spectre status it would bring humanity closer to gaining a seat on the council" Anderson explained.

Spectres were shadow operatives with complete freedom. Or at least they were portrayed to be. Shepard didn't know for himself whether Spectres had limits to how far they could go. But what he did know was that if he had had the freedom and authority of a Spectre then he could do real good for humanity.

"What's the next step?" Shepard asked.

"Eden Prime will be the first of many missions together, I will evaluate your reactions and your performance to see if you have what it takes" Nihlus said.

The briefing was cut short by the pin of the intercom.

"Captain we've got a problem" Joker said.

"What's wrong Joker?" Anderson asked.

"Transmission from Eden Prime sir, you'd better see this"

"Bring it up on screen"

A holographic screen flickered to life on the wall, showing Eden Prime. The tranquil colony had been turned into a war zone. Alliance marines in yellow and brown armour were firing their assault rifles at an unknown enemy. Shepard heard the sound of plasma fire and explosions that shook the marine recording the images off balance. A woman in white and red armour rushed towards the marine, pushing him to cover and firing her rifle at their enemy. Lightning and explosions seemed to shake the ground and the marines stopped firing. They looked at the sky in shock, something that Nihlus, Anderson and Shepard shared.

"Reverse and hold at thirty eight point five" Anderson ordered.

The video rewound and stopped at the last thing the marine had seen. At first glance Shepard would have called it a hand. But after a closer look he saw that it was some kind of ship, with tentacles and energy crackling off of its hull.

"Commander tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up and meet us in the cargo hold, this mission just got a lot more complicated" Anderson said.

Shepard looked at the image of the ship again as Anderson and Nihlus left. He crossed his arms and huffed.

"No shit, I knew today would be a bad day" He said.

* * *

Heroes weren't born anymore; they were pushed into camp and then sent out into the world when the government decided they were good enough. The people of the Earth reacted exactly as they were expected to. They blamed the people that weren't to blame and pushed for a registration act. Now, only the Avengers only helped America. People had turned against those they called "friend". The symbol of hope for the heroes was gone, killed on the footsteps of a court where he was to be tried like a common criminal. Everything was going according to plan.

Criti Noll smiled underneath the façade of Hank Pym. He stood amongst the Skrull Empires greatest enemies, wearing the form of a man they continually mocked. Hank Pym, or the Yellow Jacket as he was called was the perfect cover. As a leader of the Initiative Pym could decide on whom was sent to which of the Fifty state teams. That was the authority Criti Noll needed to ensure that a Skrull sleeper agent occupied every inch of America. Soon the empire would be ready to invade the planet.

"What's up Hank?"

Criti wiped away his smirk and instead smiled as his "lover" entered the lab. Tigra was indeed a fascinating specimen. She bared the body of a human woman but the strength and coat of a tiger. Leaning against his back, Tigra playfully licked Criti's chin, unaware of his disguise.

"You know how you're not doing anything at the moment? Well I was thinking, how about we get some alone time before your due to evaluate some more rookies" Tigra said.

"Actually Greer I'm currently tracking a temporal anomaly" Criti said.

"A what now?" Tigra asked.

"My scanners have detected some kind of rift in the fabric of our dimension, its small but it seems to be passing over the training area"

"Is it dangerous?"

"It's benign right now, in fact there are several rifts forming in several locations and none of them are a danger because they wont grow to a…" Tigra cut off Pym's lecture as she pressed her lips against his.

Criti inwardly smiled as he swept the computers and instruments off of his desk. Disguising himself as a human had its advantages. He slammed Tigra against the desk and traced kisses across her belly and up her neck. The rifts were benign, and even if they did grow they still wouldn't be a threat to the Empire. For now Criti would enjoy the advantages of being Hank Pym. There were three things he enjoyed about this mission: serving the empire, tricking humans and fucking Tigra.

* * *

There were three things Michael hated about the Initiative: being away from home, getting lectures and underestimates from his instructors and the moments when rookies lost their nerve. A said rookie was shooting up the training room. MVP had entered the training area to meet the rookies and things went well for a moment. He got to see Cloud 9 smile; she'd been lucky enough to be changing in the boy's showers with only Michael in the room. She'd seen him without his shirt and he'd seen her without her trousers, a good trade really.

"EVERYBODY GET OUTA THERE!" Gauntlet yelled.

MVP looked at the scene in shock, nothing had happened like this on his first day. One of the rookies, Armoury had been driven insane when Trauma had transformed into her worst fear. Of course a giant spider was something to be afraid of, but right now Michael was more afraid of the laser beams flying out of Armoury's weapon. One of the rookies, Komodo had her arm blasted off, but thankfully she quickly grew another one. Trauma was smart enough to dive out of the way while Hardball used his powers to defend himself. A beam rebounded off of Hardball's fist ball, hitting the wall above. Through all this chaos, Cloud 9 stood frozen in fear.

"CLOUD 9 MOVE!" Michael yelled.

But she wouldn't move, even when beams flew inches past her head. MVP dashed off into a sprint, jumping and ducking under stray laser beams. With a burst of strength and speed he dived forward, tackling Cloud Nine out of the way of a beam. They rolled out of the way and MVP kept a hold of Cloud Nine's shoulders.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Suddenly MVP felt a heat on the back of his head. He turned around and widened his eyes in shock. A purple beam had stopped inches from his head. It had struck some other surge of energy. Instead of being purple, this form of energy was blue and quickly growing in front of Michael's eyes.

"I've got her" Gauntlet said, wrapping an energy hand around Armoury.

"Something's…got…me!" Michael said, grinding his teeth together as he felt something pulling at his body.

"MVP!" Cloud Nine cried out.

Michael looked down at his hand and yelled. Every atom of his hand was now breaking apart and flying into the energy hole. He tried to move away but saw that his legs were being broken up as well. Everyone around him watched in shock. Gauntlet ran for his student while Cloud Nine tried to reach out to him. Suddenly his other hand began to break and the effect spread towards his chest and neck.

"Oh my god" Trauma said as he returned to his original shape.

"Fascinating" He heard Baron Von Blizschlag mutter.

The rest of the world went silent as the last bit of Michael's head disappeared. Everyone inside the training room watched in shock as the portal blinked and then disappeared completely.

* * *

Michael yelled as felt billions of particles bash into him. He was flying across a void, his body slowly repairing itself. Then the whiteness of the void changed to the same cracking blue energy of the portal. The fabric of his costume formed around his body and he regained the strength to move his arms and legs. Then he reached the end of void and sent rolling across a muddy and grassy surface. He felt a few stones dig into his hips. It felt like he had just taken a diving tackle. Brushing mud off of his fatigues, Michael looked at his new surroundings.

"What the hell is this place?" Michael wondered.

The sky seemed strange, darker than normal. And the rocks and grass around him certainly wasn't anything he'd find in Tennessee. Looking down the hill he had just landed on he saw some kind of construct. The alloy looked to be as advanced as the kind found at Camp Hammond, it looked like some kind of station although it was in bad shape. It wasn't the fires that Michael found disconcerting, but the construct floating over the station. Energy was crackling around it, like a thunderstorm. It looked like some kind of alien ship for lack of a better term. As Michael walked down the hill he saw other objects that caught him off guard. They were spikes with strange metallic corpses impaled on them.

"Thank god I didn't land on one of those" Michael said.

He looked up and down at the spikes before looking at the station. Two figures were standing there, both wearing armour. When Michael got a closer look at them he widened his eyes. They were aliens, although they didn't look like aliens the Avengers had made contact with. One of the aliens turned around, looking up at the alien ship. Michael widened his eyes as the other one raised what looked like a pistol.

"HEY!" Michael yelled.

The two aliens stopped and looked towards Michael. The one with red and black armour looked at the boy in confusion, and then at his accomplice.

"I'm sorry old friend" The alien in silver armour said.

He raised the pistol to his hip and fired several shots, point blank into the other aliens gut. Michael watched in shock as the wounded alien fell to the cold ground. The one whom had fired the shots then looked at Michael coldly before walking away. Michael's ears perked as he heard a sliding sound behind him. It was actually several sliding sounds. He turned around and looked at the spikes, shrinking until the corpses on top touched the ground. The corpses moaned as they got off the floor. Electricity sparked out of the wires across their body as they eyes shined a blue colour. They were all looking at Michael.

"Great, today was supposed to be a good day"

Next Chapter 2: Incidents

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter, it gets better as it goes on. MVP isn't going to be the only character going into the Mass Effect dimension. And the Mass Effect dimension may not be the same again when others from Michael's dimension come through. Read and tell me what you thought of it please


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel or Mass Effect

In this chapter, we see a big change from the original game

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 2: Incidents

Bad day, those were the two words MVP used to describe the situation he was in. Techno zombies, strange aliens and ships looked like they could make Thor cringe. The "husks" crept closer and closer towards him, groaning as electricity surged through the wires on their heads chests. Michael sniffed the air, he could smell horrid stenches and naturally he assumed the worst. Lots of people had been killed this day. Wherever he was he had just entered into a war zone. Although it may be the perfect place for him to use what he had been taught. As the husks got closer and closer towards him, Michael thought about the close quarter's combat training. These husks appeared to possess limited intelligence, which meant that they weren't likely to defend themselves. So he could forget the throws and holds Shang-Chi would teach the cadets and instead settled for fast brutal swings.

If it were possible, the Husks would have been astonished as MVP slammed his leg into a Husks face. He swung around; punching a Husk square in the jaw and kicking another round the head. Putting his weight into the jabs and kicks, MVP took his opponents down hard and fast. One of the Husks swung its arm out, but MVP ducked, axe kicking the Husks leg and knocking it to the floor. He then pressed his hands against the ground and thrust his legs into a Husks chest. Standing in a lazy fighting stance, MVP waited for the other Husks to attack. One began to glow with electricity. MVP immediately jumped back, rolling back slightly on the steel floor of the station. He got off the floor and watched as the Husk gave off an electric pulse.

Rushing forward, MVP grabbed the Husk, hammer throwing it into its Husk brethren. Then he scissor kicked a few more in the chest and dived to the side as they electrocuted one another. Rolling across the grass, MVP stopped his head inches from a small flame. He jumped onto his feet and looked at his surroundings again. His punches had dazed the Husks, but they weren't down for the count yet. Picking up a rock from the ground, MVP bashed a Husk across the head with it. The Husk went down, blue blood pouring from its head. Whatever those Husks are they clearly aren't sentient.

"Oh no" Michael said as the other Husks began to glow with electricity.

He ran back onto the platform as they released their electrical surges. Stopping at the body of alien, MVP looked down at the "creature". He was faintly coughing, signifying he was still clinging to life. Michael's ears perked again as he heard footsteps. More strange aliens, no they looked like a mixture of alien and robot. The two robots had black armour and heads that curved out with "flash light" eyes. They began firing blasts from their pulse rifles, sending beams flying past MVP's head.

"Ah Hell!" He said, jumping over a set of crates.

Michael leant back against the crates as the machines continued to fire at him. Looking to his side he saw much to his astonishment a human man. He was cowering behind the crates, with a bag at his side.

'Well at least I know I'm not the only human here' MVP thought.

He peeked his head out of the side of the crate, narrowing his eyes at the grounded alien. The alien was coughing weakly, spitting out blue blood. And the Husks were marching straight towards him.

"Damn it!" MVP muttered.

He looked inside the bag that the cowering human had. Inside there were small disc shaped devices.

"What the heck are these?" Michael wondered.

Conflicted by the situation, Michael grinded his teeth together. If he didn't move fast then the alien was dead. Oh well, people always did call him Captain America Junior.

* * *

Every scientific mind in Camp Hammond was officially baffled. Or at least they would be once Hank Pym was found.

"Where the hell is he?" Gauntlet asked as he and Stingray searched Pym's office.

Meanwhile, the miniature dimension Pym often entered at his shrunken size, Tigra and "Pym" were taking advantage of their newfound privacy. Pym dragged Tigra across the floor, tracing kisses along her neck and breast. She raked her claws across his back, purring with every thrust of her lover's hips. Their clothes had been thrown across the floor and their pleasured moans never left this world they took refuge in. Tigra licked Hank's face, throwing her head back as he reached his limit. She gasped in sensual pleasure, holding Hank's head tightly.

"We should probably get back to work at some point" She said.

"Yeah, first we'll need our clothes" Hank said.

"My panties are full size, back in your office" Tigra giggled.

"Oh shit!"

Hank put his uniform back on and grew back to full size. He appeared before Gauntlet and Stingray, the Latter holding Tigra's pants.

"What seems to be the problem Sergeant?" Hank asked.

"I'll tell you the fucking problem, one of our best recruits has suddenly disappeared and your having fun with your fuck buddy" Gauntlet explained.

"Now now Gauntlet, let's not get too hasty, if there's anyone who can figure out what happened to MVP it's Doctor Pym" Stingray said.

"Of course, if you just give me a moment I'll be right with you"

"After all Dr Richards is out on some cosmic adventure"

Gauntlet laughed while Pym grinded his teeth together. After some shrinking, growing and awkward stares, Pym returned to the Baron's lab. Baron Von Bliztschlag was a former Nazi scientist with the ability to control electricity. Now he was one of the Initiative's brain boxes. The Camp director James Rhodes was also there. He was the heavily armed and armoured hero known as War machine. Joining him was Gauntlet and government agent Henry Gyrich. The red haired agent kept his sunglasses on, looking at Pym in disapproval.

"I still say we should let Justice in on this meeting" Hank said.

"No can do Hank, right now we need to keep this close to the chest" War Machine said.

"Very well, as you all know Herr Patrick walked in on a botched training session between Armoury and Trauma, Trauma had accessed his transformation abilities to turn himself into a giant spider, unfortunately Armoury's phobia was worse than we thought and from her panicked state she lost control of her weapon the Tactigon" The Baron explained.

"We've asked Armoury to join in on this briefing, the Baron is analysing her weapon while you can run tests on the training room" Gyrich said.

"Fascinating, my own scanners did pick up unusual energy in the training room but its gone now" Hank said.

"What I want to know is whether it's fatal or not?"

"We all want to know what happened not just you Gyrich" War Machine said.

"Please calm down, try to understand that what I've been scanning disappears and then reappears and random moments; Baron let me take a look at your results on the Tactigon"

"Yes Herr Pym, you see the Tactigon reacts to certain situations in order to change into any weapon or object needed, Armoury has used it for several months but she lacks full control" Baron explained.

Armoury let that one slide, knowing that given the situation she was in no position to say she could control the alien weapon. In fact they might use this to kick her off the Initiative.

"My theory is that energy from the Tactigon bonded with this rift that had formed in reality, now in normal circumstances this rift would be benign, but the energy from the Tactigon forced this rift open, creating a singularity of sorts that pulled in anything close to it"

"And poor Michael just so happens to be the only thing the portal has to pull in" War Machine said.

"Exactly, but these rifts have been appearing in random places at random times, you cant just wait for one to suddenly appear at the exact spot you want, and even if you know where it is opening a rift is extremely unlikely, the fact that the energy from the Tactigon literally tore open a crack in reality says something about its power" Hank continued to explain.

"So what are we going to do, let MVP rot in some Planet of the Apes world?" Gauntlet asked.

"Of course not, we can begin making steps to figure out a way to repeat the process, first I'd recommend we get Reed Richards in to help"

"Yes, Herr Richards can certainly offer us more detailed knowledge, although it may be difficult to reach him" The Baron said.

"As soon as Richards is back I want him told of the situation and bought over here so he can start researching a way to get MVP out of this other world he's trapped in" War Machine said.

Hank and the Baron nodded their heads while Gauntlet walked towards the exit.

"I'll have a talk with the other recruits, tell them to keep things close to the chest until MVP comes back, Armoury you come with me" Gauntlet said.

War Machine walked with Gauntlet Armoury, using the communicator in his helmet to call the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Tony Stark. Gyrich however stayed, keeping his eyes on the two scientists as they talked over their notes. Once the doors had closed, Gyrich spoke to the scientists about why he was really here.

"Pym, you decide who gets put on the Initiative, but you also know that right now there's a shortage on super humans" Gyrich said.

"What are you getting at?" Hank asked.

"The Baron ran tests on Michael Van Patrick's blood, tell him what you found"

"Herr Patrick is a very impressive boy, are you aware of what his supernatural abilities are?" The Baron asked.

"Justice was very vague about him"

"He has none, unlike your Capitan, his strength and stamina is a result of blood und sweat, but above that his genetic structure is perfection itself" The German scientist explained.

"Perfection, that can't be right"

"Take a look Herr Pym" Blitschlag motioned to his microscope.

Hank walked over and looked under the microscope. The preserved blood sample showed the structure of MVP's DNA. DNA records were kept of all Initiative members and recruits, particularly those of "interest". Criti Noll hid a smirk and fought the urge to laugh. The human was correct; MVP's DNA was indeed perfect. No foreign substances like a super soldier serum, no additions to his genes like the mutants bared. His DNA was human; there was no doubt about that. Criti had seen Kree blood, human blood, Shiar blood and even the blood of his fellow Skrulls. Michael Van Patrick had gained his peak human abilities through exercise and diet. Criti knew exactly what Gyrich was thinking humans were so predictable. But he would play ignorant and innocent Hank Pym for the sake of his mission.

"This is all well and good Gyrich but what does this have to do with the Initiative?" "Hank" asked.

"We've got hair, skin and blood samples, I say we put them to use" Gyrich said.

"You mean…cloning?"

"Yes, Herr Patrick's DNA is perfect for cloning, and imagine the enhancements we could graft onto these clones" Baron said.

"Something like that…it isn't ethical" Hank said, mimicking conflict perfectly.

"Says the guy who created Ultron, face it Pym between Hydra, the X-men and the unregistered heroes we need all the advantages we can get, and what better advantage than an army of MVP's" Gyrich explained.

Hank put a hand to his chin. True, an army of MVP clones would be a huge advantage for the heroes. But in actual fact, the advantages that the heroes thought they had were actually the Skrull Empires. Criti Noll smiled beneath his disguise, nodding his head.

"Let me take care of the cloning, I'll also work with Dr Richards and find out how we're going to get MVP out" He said.

"Good, try to do so quickly, the last thing we need is this incident spreading into a PR loss" Gyrich said.

Pym huffed; the Initiative was already a public opinion nightmare. Humans were so opinionated; they could never unite as the Skrulls could. Outside of the camp, numerous protestors marched and yelled with their signs. Camp Hammond had been built over the remains of a school in Stamford Connecticut. This school was the one that had been blown up by the super human codenamed Nitro. The people of America blamed the New Warriors, the heroes that tried to stop Nitro. After little debate, the government implemented the super human registration act. Now all heroes needed to be registered with the government and trained to do their jobs.

Gauntlet was the drill sergeant of Camp Hammond, he taught all the new potential Avengers. Now his newest students included some former New Warriors. Ultra Girl was a young woman with super strength and the ability to fly; she was often seen with Thor Girl, a female version of the infamous founding Avenger. Rage, in Gauntlet's opinion was an incident waiting to happen; he had super strength and a temper to match it. Slapstick was a joke, he appeared to be shape shifter, although Gauntlet had seen him use hammers in his training. Some of the most promising trainees were heroes Gauntlet hadn't even known about till now.

He had gathered the five trainees in the training room where the event happened. Armoury seemed indifferent to the situation, thought Gauntlet could tell that she was starting to regret her decision to come to Hammond. The purple haired girl had spent her time on the bus trip over talking to her friends on her phone. In her combat fatigues and pink shirt she didn't look like a cheerleader, but that was exactly what she would be if she didn't learn full control of her weapon, the shape changing Tactigon. Beside her was Trauma, another cadet responsible for MVP's disappearance. He looked like an Emo and he had the attitude to boot. His abilities included a psychic ability to detect a person's deepest fears, then he could literally transform into that fear. Cloud 9 was deeply affected by the incident, the blonde haired girl tried to keep her feelings in check, but Gauntlet could see from her red eyes that she had been crying. She didn't have the build for obstacle courses, but according to War Machine she could use the vapour she summoned to fly. Komodo was an eager cadet; she had a lizard appearance with the claws and regenerative powers to match. Beside her stood Hardball, a cocky blonde guy with the power to create solid "hardballs" around his hands.

"So we're just going to abandon one of our own?" Hardball asked.

"Of course not, our big brain guys are working on it right now, they'll deal with the situation" Gauntlet said.

"Like they dealt with the rebel Avengers during the Civil War, like how they put nanites into super villains?" Trauma asked.

"I'm not debating this, we've been ordered to keep quiet and that's what we're going to do"

"We aren't soldiers" Cloud 9 said.

"Maybe, maybe not but you still follow the orders you've been given, end of story kids, now get on the obstacle course and forget this whole incident ever happened"

The cadets hesitantly walked out of the training room. Gauntlet huffed and walked behind them, unbeknownst to who had listened in. He leant against the door that led to the control room. His costume was a blue and white colour and included a cloak and yellow star on his chest. He was Justice; the young super hero and the camps youth counsellor. But above all these things he had been the man to support MVP's entry into Camp Hammond. Now his friend was trapped in another world and the Initiative camp leaders were going to keep it quiet, hoping that Richards and Pym, the people whom made a murderous Thor clone could get MVP out. Justice knew that right now there was nothing he could do. Alls he could do was pray that his friend and student was surviving.

* * *

MVP had officially had enough of hiding. He ran out of his cover, throwing the strange discs devices that the man hiding had carried. The objects hit the robot's flash light heads, knocking them back slightly. MVP then kicked one of the husks away from the alien, pushing the undead creature into its "friends". He grabbed the assault rifle that the alien had been carrying and aimed it at the robots. Target practice sessions with Black Widow flashed before his eyes as he targeted the machines.

**BLAM!**

Several shots echoed in the air, hitting the two robots. A few more shots took out the Husks, but one got close to MVP. He slammed the barrel against the creature's chest and pulled the trigger. His arm shook as he unleashed several bullets into the Husk's chest. The Husk fell to the ground, oil flowing from its wounds. MVP turned to the open field behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. Three armoured men were walking towards him. MVP then blinked, noticing that the one in white armour was actually a woman.

'Now that's a hell of a costume' MVP thought, looking at the woman's chest area.

He then stopped and looked at the others. The one in front, the apparent leader wore grey armour that looked heavier than the armour the man beside him wore. Both of the men wore grey armour, but the Commander's had the symbol N7 on his chest and a red line travelling down his arm. MVP then looked down as the alien began to cough. Kneeling down to the alien's level, MVP thought back to his first aid training. He applied pressure to the gunshot wound, hoping to prevent some of the bleeding.

"Saren!" The alien breathed out.

"Stay with me…hey you three; do any of you have a first aid kit?" MVP asked the three soldiers.

The one in front raised his pistol.

"Step away from Nihlus kid" He said sternly.

"What, you know this guy, if that's the case then help him" MVP said.

"I'll take care of it Commander" The other man said.

An orange, holographic gauntlet appeared over his arm as he walked over to the alien. The man, possibly a few years older than the commander kneeled by "Nihlus's" side.

"Gun shot wound sir, scratched his heart it seems" The man said.

"But you can still help him right?" MVP asked.

"I don't know much about Turian physiology, and I don't often come across point blank wounds…you can take your hands off his chest now"

MVP removed his hands from the "Turian's" chest, standing up and looking at his shaking hands. They were soaked with alien blood. The Commander stepped closer towards him, keeping his pistol out.

"What happened here?" He asked.

"I…I don't know, alls I saw was him and another alien like him talking to one another, Nihlus notices me just a few feet away and this other guy in silver armour suddenly shoots him in the chest" Michael explained.

"Where did you come from, do you live around here?" The woman asked.

"I'm not even sure where here is"

'What's that supposed to mean?' Shepard wondered.

So far the mission had been a complete disaster. As soon as he, Alenko and Jenkins dropped onto the planet they were faced by enemy fire. Hover drones fired at Jenkin's, piercing the young man's shields and ripping off shreds of his chest. Moving on, Alenko and Shepard found the woman in white armour. She was part of the Eden Prime defence forces. Her name was Ashley Williams, a gunnery chief of the alliance. The ones attacking Eden Prime were the Geth; a race of synthetic's created millennia ago by a race called the Quarian's. They hadn't been outside of their controlled space for hundreds of years, but now they were attacking Eden Prime, obviously looking for the Prothean Beacon.

Now a boy wearing an odd shirt joined them. Shepard had never seen a shirt with its own symbol before. The boy definitely looked like a military recruit, or he at least had the build for it. Thinking back to his own youth, Shepard remembered that he never had muscles as big as the boy had. This kid was certainly a hard worker and he was always looking back at Nihlus in concern. The boys eyes widened as Nihlus spat out a blob of blood. Shepard noticed that Ashley was taken aback as well, more out of disgust than shock.

"You can save him right?" The boy asked Kaiden.

Kaiden rapidly touched the buttons on his Omni-tool, injecting medi gel into the wound.

"Shredder Round sir, point blank near his heart, whoever attacked Nihlus knew exactly what he was doing" Kaiden said.

"And it definitely wasn't a Geth, they use pulse rifle not bullets" Shepard added.

Michael knelt beside the alien Nihlus. He grabbed his hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

"Stay with us now, hold on no matter what…you guys must have a transport or something right?" Michael asked.

The commander shook his head.

"That's out of the question until we've confirmed that the Geth are gone"

"But one of your men is dying" Michael said.

"It's…all right!"

The group looked down at Nihlus as he coughed out more blood.

"You…have to stop…Saren!" Nihlus said weakly.

"Don't give up on us yet" Michael said.

Nihlus squeezed Michael's hand back and looked up at Shepard.

"Tell council…stop Saren…no matter what"

Michael widened his eyes as Nihlus's breathing stopped and the grip on his hand loosened. Getting up off the floor, Michael rubbed his forehead, Nihlus's blood soaking his hair. He swung his fist back and slammed it into the crates.

"DAMN IT!" He yelled.

Kaiden lowered his head while Ashley looked away. Shepard kept his eyes on the boy, watching as he walked behind the crate. He lifted a dockworker onto his feet, bringing him round to face the soldiers.

"YOU, what's your name?" Michael asked.

"Powell" The man said.

"What do you do here?" Shepard asked, walking into the interrogation.

"I'm just a dock worker"

"Powell…your Cole's contact here on the docks, you run the smuggling ring with him" Shepard said.

"Yeah…so I'm a smuggler, that doesn't matter, my supervisors dead the whole colonies dead, what does that matter?"

"Got anything smuggled nearby we could use against the Geth?" Shepard asked.

"A shipment of grenades came through, no body notices if a few go missing from the military orders" Powell said.

Ashley turned back to the men, gripping her rifle tightly.

"You son of a bitch, we're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and alls you can think about is how to rip us off" Ashley said.

Her voice was full of fury; understandable considering her entire unit had just been killed.

"A lot of people died here Powell, the soldier's needed those grenades" Shepard said coldly.

"The bag is just behind the crate, take em I didn't mean to cause anyone any harm" Powell said.

"What happened before Nihlus was shot?" Shepard asked.

"He and that Saren guy were talking, they seemed to know one another and your friend dropped his guard, Saren was going to shoot him right in the back" Powell explained.

"And you just stood and watched?" Michael asked.

"I didn't even have a gun, what I was supposed to do?"

"Just give us the grenades and tell us which way Saren went" Shepard said.

"Over towards the trams, I think he's heading towards the space port where the Beacon was taken"

Shepard grabbed the boy's shoulder, taking him off of Powel. He also took the back of grenades and gave them to Ashley. The Gunnery Chief began dividing the explosives between them. Crouching down to Nihlus's body, Shepard took the Spectre's rifle. Then he turned to the civilian.

"You handled yourself well against those husks, you know how to use this?" Shepard asked.

MVP took the rifle, pressing the butt against his shoulder and looking down the sight. It was kind of like the guns they used at Camp Hammond, but he wouldn't tell the soldier's that until it was absolutely necessary. He had no idea whether this world knew about alternate realities but it was best to keep quiet, lest he be locked up in a crazy house.

"I'm a quick study" Michael said.

"Good, what's your name?" Shepard asked.

"Michael Van Patrick"

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliances SSV Normandy, this is Staff Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko also of the Normandy and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the two twelfth Alliance Marine Corp, you stay behind us and watch yourself, with no shields you're a sitting duck, Ashley give him some grenades" Shepard explained.

"But sir, he's a civilian" Ashley said.

"He's also a witness; now give him some grenades Chief"

Ashley removed her helmet and Michael got a better look at her. She had dark hair tied up in a bun and a tan to her skin. With her looks she could definitely give the female heroes back home a run for their money. But Michael could tell that she was a no nonsense soldier.

"I noticed you threw some of these at the Geth, word of advice kid, you push the button and then you throw them" Ashley said, smiling as she gave Michael some of the discs.

'These are grenades?' Michael wondered.

"I'll take point, Ashley, Kaiden, Michael stay behind me" Shepard said, drawing his sniper rifle.

Michael walked with the soldier's, hiding his nerves. He'd never been on any Initiative missions, but a lot of the instructors told him he'd do well. Now he was in a new world where he'd have to put all of his training to the test. It was easier said than done, because as soon as they reached the station Michael's heart skipped a beat. Standing between them as the train was a small squadron of Geth. But one of them was a giant with broad shoulder's to match. Shepard aimed his rifle, immediately firing a slug into a barrel of some kind. The barrel then exploded, throwing two Geth off of the platform and singeing the giant's armour.

"Take cover!" Shepard said as he took out his pistol.

He pressed his back against a railing, crouching low to avoid beam fire. The Geth marched forward and the marines fired back. Kaiden fired his pistol, while Ashley squeezed the trigger of her rifle, spraying bullets towards the Geth. Michael watched as several of the machines went down, white blood spraying out of their bullet holes. Then the giant began to rush forward, running as fast as he would on the track. He fired his assault rifle, hitting the giant with a storm of bullets. Suddenly, his rifle began to beep. He looked at the barrel and cursed, seeing an overheat warning.

"Deploying a lift field Commander" Kaiden said.

Shepard nodded his head and stepped out of cover. Kaiden threw his hand up, wrapping the giant in some kind of blue energy. The Geth floated off of the ground, its gun still blazing. Blue energy suddenly enveloped Shepard's hand and with a swing of his arm, the Geth was sent flying further into the air. The other Geth looked up at the sight of their "big brother" floating into the air. Ashley took this chance to fire a full burst of rifle fire into the Geth troopers. When the Geth giant finally fell to the ground the machine fell apart.

"Wow!" Michael said.

"Good shooting kid" Ashley teased.

"Stay behind us Michael and fire on my order only" Shepard said.

The man's voice was so disinterested, as if he didn't care for Michael's failure. They made their way to the tram, ignoring the wrecked Geth. Once they got onto the tram, Michael leant against the railing, looking out at the landscape as the tram sped across the track. He widened his eyes as he saw smoke rising from huts and houses. They looked like they were made from metallic alloys, but a lot of them had been melted into slag. The spikes had countless people impaled upon them; Michael could even see some people still twitching. Ashley was also visibly shocked by the scene, she had watched an unfortunate colonist be impaled by what Shepard had named the "dragon's teeth". Shepard seemingly remained indifferent to the carnage. He had a mission to carry out; the defence of the colony's population would be left up to its official defence corps.

"Where are we?" Michael asked.

"On a tram heading towards the space port" Shepard said.

"No…I mean where are we?"

"Eden Prime, a colony on the edge of the Terminus System" Kaiden said.

"Don't you know this?" Ashley asked.

"Its…difficult to explain, lets just focus on finding Saren" Michael said.

Shepard narrowed his eyes at the boy before pressing a hand against his ear. He established a communication link with Captain Anderson.

"What is it Shepard?" Anderson asked.

"I need you to do a background check on a Michael Van Patrick, brown haired kid about the age of 19, possibly twenty, see if he lives anywhere on Eden Prime" Shepard explained.

"What does this have to do with Eden Prime's attack commander?" Anderson asked.

"Just looking for suspects Captain, I'll call you once we've secured the Beacon"

The tram stopped and the group immediately stood ready. They heard the chatter of the Geth, they used some kind of digital growls to communicate. Kaiden narrowed his eyes as a cylinder device just inches from the tram.

"Demolition charges the Geth must have planted them" Kaiden said.

"We need to shut them off or they'll take out the whole colony" Ashley said.

Shepard folded out his rifle, taking point. He walked up a flight of stairs towards a bridge that connected the station to the space port. There were three more charges along the port.

"Ashley, Michael with me, Kaiden you stay behind us and disarm those bombs" Shepard said.

Kaiden nodded his head, bringing up his omni tool and slowly deactivating the bomb. Ashley rushed to Shepard's side, firing her rifle at the Geth on the bridge in front of them. Shepard fired a single slug from his rifle, hitting a Geth Sniper in the face. Ashley fired her assault rifle, batting the Geth Troopers with bullets. Michael ducked behind cover, dodging a volley of beam fire. Kaiden's omni tool chimed and he stepped away from the bomb.

"First charge deactivated" He said.

"Good, lets move onto the next, everyone on me!" Shepard said.

He put his sniper rifle away and drew his assault rifle. The others followed behind him, Ashley and Kaiden both fired their guns at the Geth on the bridge, forcing them to take cover. When Shepard reached the port he began firing his rifle at the Geth Trooper's blocking their path. He crouched behind cover, pointing his hand to a bomb behind the squad. Kaiden immediately ran for the bomb, ducking behind cover and beginning to disarm the bomb with his omni tool. Ashley took out her shotgun, firing bursts into the Geth Troopers. The Geth were smart enough to stay under cover, firing their beam rifles. Michael took a deep breath and popped out of cover, squeezing the trigger on his rifle. He fired short bursts into the Geth, knocking some of them down.

"Move!" Shepard commanded.

They moved forward as Kaiden deactivated the second bomb. He threw his arm forward, throwing some of the Geth Trooper's back before he slid towards the third bomb. Shepard removed his rifle and took out his pistol, firing a few shots into a Geth Shock Trooper. Michael moved forward as well, firing his rifle in short bursts, adapting to the rifle's heating system.

"Third ones down" Kaiden said.

Suddenly a beam flew into Kaiden's shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Michael immediately rushed to Kaiden's side, shooting the Geth that fired the shot. He grabbed the collar of Kaiden's uniform and began moving him towards cover. Shepard casually put his pistol away and pulled out his shotgun.

"Williams, take care of Alenko, Michael you provide me cover fire" Shepard said.

"M…me?" Michael asked.

Shepard cocked the shotgun and ran out of cover. He fired a slug into the chest of a Geth Trooper, ripping apart it's armour. Michael ran away from Kaiden, firing his rifle at the other troopers. Ashley rolled to Kaiden's side, checking his wound.

"Clean hit through the shoulder chief, just slap the medi-gel on" Kaiden said.

"No sweat there Lieutenant" She said.

Her Omni-tool lit up and she injected the medi-gel into Kaiden's injured shoulder. The gel began to cover the wound, disinfecting it and preventing any further blood loss. But Kaiden would still need to be checked out by a doctor. The two marines ran out of cover, watching their commander and the new kid lay waste to the Geth forces blocking them. Ashley widened her eyes in astonishment as Michael ran up to a Geth, kicking over the railing. Shepard casually and coldly blew a Geth's head off and began defusing the final bomb. Michael stayed behind Shepard, checking for any more enemies.

"That's the last one, now lets go secure the beacon" Shepard said.

Ashley knew of Shepard's reputation. He was a skilled soldier and a brutal tactician. But this boy certainly wasn't an alliance cadet and he fought as well as any marine. Shepard and Michael walked down another flight of stairs, noting the presence of the Beacon. They also noted the Geth Troopers and Husks defending it. Kaiden and Ashley quickly followed behind them, waiting for Shepard's signal. Shepard gave the signal by Biotically throwing a Geth Trooper over a railing. They fired their guns, hitting Geth and Husk alike. Michael clicked the button on a grenade and threw into the middle of a group of Husks. The explosion knocked two of the Husks back, while the other had its flesh ripped from its body.

Kaiden lifted a Geth trooper in the air, and then fired a few shots into its chest. Ashley was left in awe at Michael's show of accuracy, but quickly overcame the shock to pierce a Geth's flash light head with shots from her rifle. A husk threw its arms at Michael, but the boy ducked underneath the swing. He then smacked the husk with his rifle, flipping it around and firing a full burst into the Husks chest. His weapon overheated and threw it at a Geth trooper, knocking it back and giving Ashley and Kaiden an opening. They fired their pistol and rifle respectively, tearing holes through the final trooper's armour.

Michael sighed in relief as a silence reigned over the space port. The battle was over and the group could finally rest. Shepard was the first to put his gun away, looking towards the Beacon. It appeared to be in good condition, but Shepard wasn't an expert on Prothean technology. In fact he hadn't heard of many experts even amongst the alien population. Michael's eyes remained fixed on the carnage behind the beacon. He had seen pictures of the Stamford ruins; the sight of the near destroyed Eden Prime was just as shocking. Ashley and Kaiden however remained focused on the Beacon. Kaiden removed his helmet, revealing his gelled brown hair and only slightly shaved face. Shepard kept his helmet on, turning away from the Beacon and calling the ship.

"Normandy this is Shepard, the Beacon is secure, standby for coordinates for pickup…"

"I can't believe this, actual working Prothean technology, unbelievable" Kaiden said in amazement.

"It wasn't doing anything like that when the scientists dug it up" Ashley said, taking note of the lights of the Beacon glowing.

Michael rubbed his nose, trying to block out the stench of the burnt bodies on the field in front of him. He leant against the railing, coughing as he fought the urge to vomit. When he saw Stamford there had been no bodies, he decided that Stamford now paled in comparison to Eden Prime. Ashley looked over at the boy in sympathy, she remembered her reaction the first time she saw dead bodies. Now she had gotten used to it, or at least her stomach had. Kaiden walked over to check with Shepard while Ashley kept her eyes on the beacon. She narrowed her eyes at the beacon as it seemingly began to glow.

Suddenly the beacon flashed and Ashley felt her feet begin to slide. She flailed her arms, trying to get away from the beacon. But it was pulling her in, closer and closer. Shepard looked over Kaiden's shoulder, widening his eyes in shock. He pushed Kaiden aside and prepared to get the soldier under his command out of harms way. But, much to the Commander's shock, Michael tackled Ashley. He lifted her onto his shoulder and swung her round, throwing her into Shepard's arms.

"Chief are you okay?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah I'm…oh my god" Ashley said.

Shepard looked away from Ashley and cursed as Michael was lifted off the ground. This strange force seemed to emanate from the Beacon, swinging Michael's body round to face it. His eyes remained fixed on the Beacon and he lurched his head back, yelling in agony. He continued to scream, his hands squeezed into fists. The blood curdling yell echoed through the space port and Shepard kept a hold of Ashley's shoulder. There was no point in two of them falling victim to whatever security protocol Michael had set off. MVP grinded his teeth together, his eyes going wide as visions were forced into his mind. His screams matched the carnage of the visions.

Suddenly, the Beacon exploded and MVP was sent rolling across the ground. Shepard let Ashley go and they both looked over the boy's body. He was unconscious, but his heart was pounding. Shepard did his best to hold back any outward concern he had, but he knew that Michael's condition was bad. He stood up and called the Normandy. They already lost one soldier today; they weren't going to lose another.

Next Chapter 3: Nightmares

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next chapter we see what the Beacon contains and shed a little light on this Shepard's past


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

Hi everyone, this chapter we've got a dramatic interpretation of Shepard's past and his Earthborn background, I'll explore this background more in the future as Shepard's past is also an important part of the fic. This chapter gives us a revelation concerning the deeper history of the Mass Effect humans, or at least this dimensions humanity, you'll see what I mean as the chapter goes on. Enjoy!

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 3: Nightmares

Life was a game of survival, it didn't matter who was hurt or even killed, and your life was the only one that mattered. One would think that in the future Earth finally becomes a Utopia for humanity, free from greed and corruption. But that's just a dream, an impossible future that can never be achieved by any kind of civilization. Humans no longer hate one another; they instead turn their attention to "creatures" such as the Turians and the Batarians. Earth has begun moving its burgeoning population into space. But that doesn't mean that Earth is no longer occupied. Though it is the capital of humanity, Earth has also become the home of alien species. Optimists called it an opportunity for humanity to learn to understand other cultures. The politicians however simply wanted to make humanity look good, to earn the respect of the council. But there are many amongst humanity that follow the rule of the game, survival of the fittest. One such group is the ten street reds.

"GET OFF OUR PLANET VAGRANT!"

The streets of New York had been engulfed with the hatred of the old. They were the people who believed in the old ways of humanity, or still bared a grudge against aliens after the first contact war. The old generation manipulated the new generation, young men with aggression had been given something to hate by their elders. They didn't try to understand other species because their parents had told them otherwise. However some of the young men raging across the streets didn't have families. Instead they chose to hate aliens simply because they were different. An illogical path that one man unfortunately followed in his youth.

"I bet you a hundred credits I can break that Turian's face plate" Curt Weisman said.

His friends all laughed as he pulled his arm back, preparing to throw a brick at a Turian passer by. They burst into laughter as Weisman threw the brick, hitting a Turian square in the face. Only one of the boys didn't laugh. He instead watched the scene in mild disinterest. One of his friends noticed his bored expression and patted him on the chest.

"Hey John, I know what'll put a smile on your face," Finch began.

John looked towards where Finch pointed. A plumb Volus was walking across the street. The boys didn't know what Volus looked like under their suits, only that they relied on their Exo-suits to breath in atmospheres besides their own planet. They also couldn't speak without taking deep breaths. John knew what Finch had in mind, it wouldn't make him smile but it would certainly pass the time. The group of boys got off the roof and rushed to intercept the Volus. John walked with his hands in his pockets. He saw his gang friends crowding around the Volus, looking down at him with their smirks.

"Ah (wheeze) hello Earth clans (wheeze) is there something I could (wheeze) do for you?" The Volus asked, panting with every breath.

"Yeah Vader there certainly is, we were wondering how exactly does your suit work?" Finch asked, patting the small Volus's head.

The Volus was taken aback by Finch's forwardness. His breathing pace began to quicken as he stepped backwards, into one of the gang members legs.

"Oh wait Finch, I think I see, its these pipes. They filter our all the nasty bugs in our atmosphere don't they?" One of the gang members asked snidely.

"Yes (wheeze) Earth-clan (wheeze) that's (wheeze) a very (wheeze) good…"

"Your having some trouble breathing there shorty, maybe there's something in your suit," Finch suggested, gripping the pipes on the Volus's breather mask.

"Please (wheeze) I (wheeze) don't (wheeze) have (wheeze) credits!" The Volus said.

"I'm sure your suits got something in it, maybe your hiding credits like when people hid money in coaches back in twenty-first. I mean you Volus think of your suits as home right, you practically spend your how life in them like the Quarians. But unlike the Quarians you can stay on your own fucking planet." Finch explained, his voice taking on a sharp tone.

The other gang members laughed as Weisman mimicked the Volus's sharp breathing. John stepped in front of the gang, aiming a sharp look at the homeless men watching them. They were the lower class citizens, the useless people whom did nothing for humanity. As John looked at them, they coward in fear or simply turned their backs. One of the older men looked at the group before rummaging through a broken trashcan. John turned to the gang and watched as Finch tugged on the Volus's gas mask.

"There are probably parts from your suit that we can use, unless you dig into your pockets more deeply we're going to have to confiscate this mask. My boys here are always curious to see what a Volus looks like, I'd imagine them being fuck ugly." Weisman said as he patted the Volus's back.

The Volus's breathing reminded John of a kid with asthma. He could see the eyes of the Volus darting from side to side, trying to find a way out. Finch knocked the Volus to the ground, planting a foot on his chest.

"So boys, which pipe should I pull out first?" he asked the crowd.

John sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. Suddenly, air rushed over his face. He opened his eyes, widening them in shock as he saw Finch fall to the ground. Beside Finch, a trashcan lid clattered across the ground. John and the other gang members turned around, to see the old man from earlier standing with his arm out in a throwing motion.

"All of you walk away now," The voice that spoke made even John tremble for a moment.

The voice was thick and fierce, yet it held experience. But that was impossible, an Ex-Alliance marine wouldn't end up as a useless bum on the streets. John finally got a good look at the man; he was old but just as big as he was. This old man had more pounds worth of muscle than John did. He took a step forward and John took a step back, much to the surprise of his gang members.

"Come on John, we can take him," Weisman said.

"Leave this place now or you'll get hurt," The Old man said.

John expected the gang members to laugh as they always did. But this man actually genuinely scared them. They overcame their initial fear and ignored the man's warnings. Each gang member rushed forward and John watched in shock as the man effortlessly dodged their punches. He seemed to "flow" through the Red's, twisting their arms and knocking them out with single punches. The old man threw Weisman to the ground, slamming his boot into the boy's chest. He then looked at John, his eyes narrowed in a cold stare.

"You should get out of here son," He said.

John gasped as the ground cracked. A mass of flesh burst out of the ground, throwing John upwards. He screamed as he looked at the Maw's jaw, acid bubbling in its throat. Hands clawed their way out of the Thresher's mouth and faces devoid of life looked towards John as he fell towards them.

"Join us John, come die Shepard!"

* * *

Shepard opened his eyes with sweat dripping down his head. He looked at his surroundings, his room on the Normandy. The intercom buzzed and Shepard lazily got off his bunk. He opened the door to see Williams waiting. Underneath the armour she was definitely a woman you wouldn't expect to be in the military. If not for her Alliance uniform Shepard would have thought of her as a simple crewmember and not a marine, and an attractive marine at that.

"Did you want something Gunnery Chief?" Shepard asked.

"Captain Anderson wanted to see you in his office sir, I think it's about the mission." Ashley said.

"Very well, you did good down there Williams, you'll be a real asset to the Normandy," Shepard said.

"Really? I feel like I'm an unwelcome guest,"

"Don't be ridiculous Williams, you're going to fit in just fine. How is the boy?"

"I was going to check on him, I hope he's all right. After what happened to Jenkin's the crew could use some good news."

"Again Williams that wasn't your fault," Shepard sighed.

"Thank you Commander, I'll see you later sir." Ashley saluted the officer before he walked towards Anderson's office.

From Ashley's perspective the Commander didn't come across as chatty. He was cold in his manner, and all business in his approach. Although as she watched him leave she did note one other fact, he had a cute ass.

* * *

Shepard saluted the captain as he walked into his office.

"Shepard, you did pretty good down there, the colonies still standing thanks to you." Anderson said.

"Intel dropped the balls sir, we had no idea what we were walking into down there. That's why the mission went to hell, why Jenkin's is dead and a local kids in the medical bay." Shepard explained.

Anderson liked that about Shepard, he spoke his mind even when it could get him into trouble. But this was a case where outright fury would get them nowhere.

"No one could have predicted that the Geth would go to Eden Prime and as for Jenkin's it wasn't your fault. You did a good job and Chakwas assures me that the boy is fine."

"You wanted to see me sir?" Shepard asked.

Anderson nodded his head, walking across his office and looking at the reply from his superiors. He wasn't going to hide the fact that things were bad. The Alliance was in uproar because they nearly lost a colony and the council was angry over Nihlus. From the political side the Citadel viewed the mission failure as an excuse to keep Shepard out of the Spectres and the more radical officers within the Alliance wanted what was left of the Beacon away from the Council. Meaning that they wanted the boy.

"I wont lie to you Shepard, things are bad, the beacon was destroyed and the council wants answers," Anderson said.

"The council can kiss my ass, I wont let them blame me for what happened I didn't do anything wrong." Shepard raved.

"I'll stand by you and your report Shepard, you're a hero in my eyes. But that's not why I wanted to speak with you. It's about Saren, that other Turian, he's a Spectre and one of the best. He also hates humanity!" Anderson said darkly.

He remembered his own mission years back with the Turian Spectre. Saren was sadistic, violent and he had little to no regard for _human _life. Anderson turned to Shepard and looked the commander in the eye as he listened to the man who had saved the colony.

"Saren wasn't there because he hates humanity, he was there for the Beacon." Shepard said.

Anderson nodded his head in agreement, "Your right," he said. "Whatever was on that Beacon Saren decided it was worth going rogue for, and a rogue Spectre is trouble. The council needs to see that Saren is just as much a danger to them as he is to humanity."

Shepard sighed, every time the Alliance asked for help the Council would ignore them. They encouraged them to expand and become greater involved in the galactic community, but when things would get tough they would stand back. "It is a purely human concern," they would say. Unity was a path to peace and if true peace were to reign then humanity would need to be united with the Council. Shepard knew this, he understood this but he also knew and understood that not everyone amongst the Citadel or humanity wanted true unity. Saren was such an individual, and Shepard was sure that the key to bringing Saren down was in whatever testimony the boy could give.

"The boy can help us," Shepard said.

"I agree, but there is something else, we ran a check through our databases and we've come up with quite a disturbing find. You should probably sit down for this commander, I know I did when I learnt who Michael Van Patrick really is!"

* * *

Darkness, that's what he saw. An endless void like space but without stars. Michael floated amongst this darkness, his body spinning. He looked with hope to a source of light, the light shined against a planet like an eclipse. The planet wasn't Earth; Michael didn't know what planet it was. He found himself flying around the planet, coming face to face with the light. His eyes widened as he saw what generated the light. The creature wrapped its tentacles around Michael, releasing an inhuman roar.

"DIE!"

Michael suddenly struck the floor. He looked at his surroundings. The whole world was a bloody haze. Explosions ignited around him and the sound of screaming and gunfire echoed in the distance. He looked up; monstrosities flew across the skies, light flying from their tentacles. Bodies were visible in the distance, impaled on spikes, some even twitching as circuitry ran across their bodies. A flash caused Michael to clutch his head. He heard a gurgle of some kind and saw a creature open its jaw, slime and flesh sticking to each end of its mouth, exposing a mass of circuitry. When he came back to the planet he saw people dying. A race of aliens he couldn't yet describe where running for their lives. One by one they went down, killed by gunfire or pinned to the spikes. Michael rushed towards the aliens, trying to help. But they faded before his eyes.

"My god, make it stop," Michael cringed as he smelt blood all over the field.

He looked at the aliens torn to pieces by this synthetic monstrosity. Every last one of them, man, woman, elder and even the children. They were all dead or dying. Michael knelt by the body of a dying child. His eyes couldn't identify what this species was, but the kid was still dying. A child with his whole life ahead of him, his whole world shattered by an enemy he didn't understand. The child looked up at Michael and said something, something that Michael couldn't understand. But the boy's voice was desperate; he had a message that needed to be heard. Michael looked up to see a creature floating over him. Its massive tendrils swarming towards him.

* * *

Michael yelled as he awoke from his slumber. Chakwas rushed to the boy's side as he rolled off his bunk.

"Calm down son, your safe!" Chakwas reassured her young patient.

"Where the hell am I? Who are you people?" Michael asked, backing himself into the wall.

The older woman gave Michael a reassuring look as she gripped his shoulder. To the right Michael spotted Ashley Williams, the marine from Eden Prime. Michael leant against the wall and landed in a heap on the floor. He smacked his hand against the wall.

'Damn it' He thought, none of it was a dream.

He remembered the strange object that almost sucked Ashley in. But instead he'd been drawn into the air and the "beacon" flooded his mind with information. The older woman offered Michael a hand, but he got up on his own and leant against the bed.

"Doctor Chakwas, what's wrong with him?" Ashley asked.

"Physically he's…perfect," Chakwas couldn't find any other way to describe it.

"Too bad he's a little young eh doc," Ashley smirked.

"No not like that…his health's perfect and this blood work, his genes don't have a single anomaly. I can't describe it, you know how a majority of human's and especially marines have genetic enhancements?" Chakwas asked.

"Yes!" Ashley nodded; being augmented was practically a requirement for being a marine.

"Well Michael here doesn't have any enhancements whatsoever,"

"That's…"

"Impossible," Shepard said as he and Anderson walked into the room.

Ashley and Chakwas both saluted their superior officers.

"I think its time we stopped talking about Michael as if he wasn't in the room," Anderson smiled, hoping to lighten the mood.

But he saw that Michael was far from all right.

"Doctor, you had something to say,"

"Ah yes, Michael my name is Doctor Chakwas. Your on board the Normandy right now, you'll be pleased to know that physically your fine. However earlier on I noticed an increase in rapid eye movement, where you dreaming Michael?" Chakwas asked.

"Not a dream, a nightmare, people dying, a whole planet burning. It was horrible, if this is a nightmare I want to wake up now." Michael said.

"Chief, Doctor, could the Captain and I speak with Michael in private?" Shepard asked.

"Of course, just…don't push him all right, not many civilians come out sane after a trauma like that,"

Chakwas and Ashley walked out of the medical bay, leaving the two men alone with Michael.

"That beacon hit you pretty rough down there Michael, how are you feeling?" Anderson asked.

"Like it's the worst day of my life, Jesus how the fuck did I get here anyway?" Michael wondered.

"That's a question we could do with an answer to," Shepard mumbled.

"Commander please, lets try this again, I'm Captain David Anderson and this is Commander Shepard. Right now your on board the Normandy on our way to the Citadel. Does this mean anything to you?" Anderson asked.

"Citadel…I have no idea what you're talking about," Michael said.

Shepard and Anderson both nodded to one another. Michael had the feeling that they knew more than he did, but they were still confused. Shepard walked over to Michael and removed a small, skin sized slip from his pocket.

"Stick this to the palm of your hand, it'll integrate itself into your skin and become your personal Omni-tool," Shepard said.

Michael did as he was told and put the circle onto the palm of his hand. It seemed to seep into his palm and much to Michael's astonishment an orange holographic gauntlet appeared over his left arm.

"Wow!" He whispered.

"The codex will put you up to date, but you need to give us some information too."

"I can't tell you a lot," Michael sighed.

"But you could still tell us about the Beacon, what did it do to you? What did you see?" Anderson asked.

"I saw aliens, being slaughtered by these synthetic creatures. They were being butchered, the sky seemed like it was on fire, it was as if the people were trying to tell me something." Michael explained.

Shepard and Anderson where taken aback by the young man's description of the vision. The Alliance and Council expected a data cache or weapon schematics, not some sick video of a whole species dying. Both men suspected that whatever Saren was up to, Eden Prime was the start.

"Michael, there's something you should know about Saren, he's in a high position of power within the Council government, specifically he's a Spectre. Do you know what Spectres are?" Shepard asked.

"It says on this Codex thing that they're shadow operatives for the Citadel Council. I don't know much about the council though." Michael said.

"There's something you should know Michael, it won't be easy to swallow at first so we think you should sit down." Anderson said.

Michael sighed, he knew exactly where this was going. The two men were just as confused as he was. But Michael hadn't found anything in the Codex about any Avengers. Alls he was able to learn was that Saren was a Turian, an alien that this version of humanity made first contact with and had only recently become grudging allies. He sat down on the edge of the bed as Anderson and Shepard leant against the wall.

"While you were out I asked Doctor Chakwas to analyse your blood, we didn't find any matches in the Eden Prime citizen statistics. In fact we didn't find any match for your blood on any of our databases, we don't so much as have any current records about a Michael Van Patrick, furthermore your clothes are made from materials that aren't even used anymore." Anderson explained.

"This is the part that'll shock you, at least we think will shock you. I think you had no idea what was going on when you arrived on Eden Prime, I think you had no idea what Nihlus or Saren were or what the Geth were. These records say that officially you don't _currently _exist." Shepard and Michael looked one another in the eyes as he spoke.

Michael couldn't help but not like Shepard, something about the man's manner rubbed him the wrong way. He felt as if Shepard wasn't your average commander, the way Ashley looked at him with a respect meant that he had done something spectacular to earn that respect. Anderson also regarded the man with respect, which meant Anderson felt that Shepard deserved more credit for his rank. That in turn meant that Shepard had made an incredible achievement. The question was whether what Shepard had done was right?

"You don't seem to be too shocked Michael, which makes me think that you can give us an explanation as to why you're here. Perhaps you can tell us why someone who was supposed to have died a hundred and sixty six years ago is now alive and well?" Shepard asked, waiting for Michael's answer.

The young man got off the bed and rubbed his head, disbelief visible in his eyes.

"What year is it?" Michael asked, dreading the logical answer.

"2183 CE!" Shepard said.

"Oh my god, what happened all those years ago?"

"The records were sealed and details are vague…"

"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" Michael yelled, swinging around and grabbing the collar of Shepard's shirt.

Shepard grabbed Michael's wrists, giving them tight squeezes and the boy a sharp look. His eyes told Michael to back off; neither of them was in the mood for games.

"2017, approximately seventy five masked vigilantes and renegade government agents are killed in action during the last massive conflict in America. Included amongst the list of dead rebels is Captain Michael Van Patrick!"

Michael let go of Shepard and stepped back until he hit the wall. Things had gotten from bad to worse. Not only was he in another world but also a much deeper future than he thought. A future where there were no big minds like Richards or Pym to help him get back home. He was stuck in a world that thought of him as not only a dead man, but a bad guy too.

* * *

Elsewhere in deep space, a Turian sat on a throne inside his unnatural warship. He tapped his talon against his nose, impatiently awaiting a report. A woman walked into his quarters, wearing a black dress that revealed her chest. Her skin was a blue colour and her lips were coated black, the headdress she wore hid the head tails common amongst all Asari. She cleared her throat before addressing her leader.

"We identified the ship that touched down on Eden Prime. The Normandy, a human alliance vessel. It was under the command of Captain Anderson, they managed to save the entire colony!" The Matriarch began.

Saren huffed; Anderson was a name he hoped he'd never hear again. The fact that he had saved the colony was an even greater annoyance. But the cowards on the council still wouldn't listen to humanity, so there was only one thing left to worry about.

"And the Beacon?" Saren asked.

"One of the humans may have used it."

His head tilted forward as he growled. The ship itself seemed to shake as Saren's anger rose. He got off his chair, the entire room boiling red, sharing his rage. Saren roared like an animal as he walked across the room, striking aside data pads and ornaments until his talons gripped the Matriarch's head. The Matriarch showed no fear as Saren breathed against her face. His mood calmed and the room returned to its dark colour as he stepped back. Now he had something else to worry about.

"This human must be eliminated!"

Next Chapter 4: Explanation

* * *

Things are getting worse for Michael, hows he going to get out of this one? Wait for the next chapter to find out, but dont let that stop you from reviewing :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 4: Explanation

Part of Camp Hammond training included adapting to scenarios. Now if Michael had been dropped in Latveria or an apocalyptic future occupied by Sentinels he'd be fine. But a future where no super soldiers existed was something that Camp Hammond survival class didn't cover. Michael could handle the suspicious look from Shepard, the man regarding him as a target. He could cope with the inevitable explanation he would have to provide that would have two outcomes: he'd be experimented on or he'd be put in a madhouse. But there was one central thing that Michael couldn't cope with, an awkward silence. God he hated the silent atmosphere, maybe because he was so used to running down a track with people cheering or taunting him. Even missions he had been on involved banter, but the silence after debriefing was nearly unbearable. Then again at least he didn't have to put up with Gyrich, screw that Shepard was worse than Gyrich.

"Okay listen, if I had an explanation that wouldn't make you think I'm crazy I'd be glad to give it, but my explanation isn't exactly proven you know?" Michael sheepishly began his explanation.

Shepard and Anderson both took seats by Chakwas desk. The captain looked back at the door, making sure it was locked. There was no sense in the whole crew finding out they had a long dead fugitive or possibly a crazy person on the ship.

"Okay where I come from aliens are a common fact of life. We've already made first contact with dozens of species, most of the time it ends with violence but nothing on a grander scale than this First Contact war you've fought! And please don't interrupt I can answer questions later. You might not believe what I'm about to tell you but believe me it is true. I am from an alternate reality, one with a completely different timeline from yours. Now I don't know what happens in this world, but in my world we've already gone through a super soldier civil war, super heroes are now registered in the government and I'm a cadet at a place called Camp Hammond!"

Both Shepard and Anderson gave Michael looks of confusion and he sheepishly sighed. He probably should have given them time to ask questions.

"You're saying you're from an alternate reality?" Shepard asked.

"I know it sounds insane but there's no other way for me to explain it. Believe me I want it to be a lie too, hell I want all this to be a dream." Michael said.

"The council is going to love this," Anderson sighed.

"We don't tell them, as far as they're concerned Michael Van Patrick is just another human in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That pretty much sums it up Commander Shepard, god the day I've been having" Michael rubbed his head as he sat back on the bed.

"You say you're a cadet at a Camp right? We've got a Camp Hammond back on Earth, where was yours located?" Anderson asked.

"Stamford Connecticut!"

Anderson chuckled while Shepard crossed his arms. Their Camp Hammond was indeed in Stamford Connecticut, which had been turned into a primarily military community. Soldier's trained and lived as part of that community, cadets would sometimes have their superior officers or instructors as their next-door neighbours. Young men and women from military families would stop calling their parent's Mom or Dad and start referring to them as officers as they began training at Camp Hammond. As Shepard recalled Camp Hammond was named after a famous officer in the First Contact War. Jim Hammond was a lieutenant commander much like Shepard; he had held out against a Turian raid and had been nicknamed "the Human Torch" because during his last stand he had been set on fire yet continued to hold his ground before Turian snipers dropped him. Shepard looked over at Michael, whom was probably studying the first contact war.

"Wow, a race of women, how do they have children?" Michael wondered.

Shepard shook his head while Anderson smiled as the boy discovered the Asari species. The Commander impatiently tapped his foot against the floor. But Michael ignored him and went over the Codex Data.

"Any species? Any gender? I don't know whether to be disgusted or amazed!"

"Excuse me Mr Van Patrick!" Shepard said.

"Sorry, just learning what I need to know. You were saying?"

"I think we should keep this conversation between us. As impossible as it sounds I actually believe you!"

"You do?" Michael asked, looking at Anderson for confirmation as well.

"Son right now there is no other explanations for your appearance. Theories for life on other planets were laughed at in the past; theories on multiple universes have the same treatment here. Life on other planets was proved correct who's to say alternate worlds won't be proven correct either. But the Commander's right Michael, people knowing about you will only complicate matters, right now the focus should be what Saren was after and why he's working with the Geth." Anderson explained.

Michael activated his omni tool, looking over the Codex for information on the Geth. Shepard grabbed his head and diverted his eyes away from the omni tool. His eyes said "focus".

"Sorry, there's just so much I need to know," Michael sighed.

"You've got plenty of time to learn kid, god knows I had a lot of learning to do when I left Earth. But right now you need to focus on that vision and what you're going to tell C-Sec and the council when they question you about Eden Prime. You are our chief witness Michael, the evidence you provide could rob Saren of his Spectre Status and keep more human colonies safe." Anderson remained calm yet at the same time optimistic.

Shepard however was much more pessimistic. He knew that this was just the beginning. Saren attacks a human colony, allies with the Geth and betrays the Council. Then a boy lands in this universe and is implanted with a vision of genocide. Shepard huffed, who the hell wouldn't think that that was the beginning of something bigger? For once he hoped his instincts were wrong.

"You don't have to give us an immediate response Michael, but know that you'll be saving some lives by helping us. Stay here, rest and study up on this world, we'll tell you when we approach the Citadel."

Anderson patted Michael on the shoulder before the two men walked out of the medical bay. Michael looked at his surroundings, it reminded him of the labs at the Camp. He popped up the Omni tool and began looking over the Codex data. All this because he had saved Cloud…no Abby, she said her name was Abby. For a small moment he felt like regretting his choice. But then he remembered that he had done the right thing. Even if he was stuck in an alternate future, he knew that his Grandpa would be proud.

* * *

Shepard wasn't a by the book man and he was thankful that Anderson wasn't either. The Captain had written a report and had omitted a lot of things about Michael. Michael didn't need the hysteria of hundreds of human fanatics asking him about the past. Anderson stayed in his office, talking with Udina, the human Ambassador whom was pushing for a human Spectre, along with other things that would strengthen humanity. Shepard looked around the crew quarters; the mood had been quiet after Jenkins died. He was an energetic marine with a fresh approach to the alliance military. Shepard kept it to himself, but he knew that if Jenkins had lived his shiny outlook would have been ruined by the horrors of warfare.

"Excuse me Commander, how is the kid doing?" Kaidan asked, walking away from his locker.

"He's all right, just trying to process everything that's been going on," Shepard said, suppressing his smirk. "Just processing", understatement of the century.

Ashley walked over to Kaidan and Shepard, saluting her superior officers.

"At ease Chief, we aren't on a mission," Kaidan said.

"Things were pretty rough down there Chief, you all right?" Shepard asked.

"I've seen friends die, but to see my whole unit wiped out. And you never get over seeing dead civilians!" Ashley said.

Kaidan nodded his head while Shepard crossed his arms. They had both been on their own fair share of rough assignments. Shepard was quite frankly astonished by how well Ashley had adjusted, he'd seen young marines turn insane from the experience of watching civilians gunned down. Unless Ash was still in the denial stage.

"Commander, I know this is a personal question to ask. But how long did it take you to get over Torfan and Akuze?" Ashley asked.

Kaidan coughed while Shepard went silent. He leant against the wall, looking down at the floor. Ashley bit her tongue, why the hell did she just ask him that? She was about to apologise until the Commander raised his hand. He didn't look angry at least.

"After Torfan I went on more missions like that, my only advice for inexperienced marines like yourself is that believe it or not…you get used to it." Shepard explained before walking away, but pausing before he reached the corridor "And as for Akuze, with all due respect Chief Williams, that's none of your business!"

His voice wasn't fierce, but it certainly left a mark. Ashley shook her head, embarrassed by what she had done while Kaidan smiled.

"Don't let it bother you Ash, that's nothing compared to what Jenkins did. He said the Commander would make a good Spectre because of what he did on Akuze. Then Shepard gives him this glare that just shrinks the whole room and he says, "Fifty marines died there!" At least you got a "with all due respect"" Kaiden laughed.

"Clearly you don't know the translation for "with all due respect"" Ashley sighed.

"Don't worry Ashley, the Commander still has his scars, believe it or not he actually has a lot of respect for you," Doctor Chakwas said, walking over with a bottle of water.

"Really? But he questioned my competence the entire mission."

"That's how he helps his marines to improve, he sees potential in you Ashley, I saw his impressed look when he saw your technical scores."

Ashley smiled, causing Kaidan to chuckle. It seemed that Commander Shepard's respect for Ashley was mutual. The elevator pinned and Navigator Pressley walked into the room.

"Smart ass Joker," He mumbled.

"What's wrong Pressley?" Chakwas asked.

"Oh nothing, Joker just keeps up his wise-cracking, even with the freaking Commander standing over him" Pressley said.

"He's a braver man than me then," Kaidan said.

The small group laughed, diverting Michael's attention away from the Codex. It bought a smile to his face, remembering the times he spent with some of the Avengers. Particularly Triathlon and Justice, they weren't just mentors to him, they were friends. The people outside had the potential not only to be a disciplined military unit but a real team. Michael switched from the page on Batarian's to an article about the Alliance. The Codex made it seem that all of humanity was now united. But when Michael read about Terra Firma and humanity now he began to think that humans were far from being united. It seemed this future was no better than his own past.

"You'd think after all these years of every species existing that they wouldn't repeat the same mistakes again and again."

* * *

Shepard walked towards the Normandy's cockpit.

"Good timing Commander, I was just about to bring us into the Citadel, see that tax payers money at work." Joker said.

Shepard stood at ease and looked out of the window. He paged Kaidan and Ashley, knowing that they wouldn't want to miss this opportunity. Michael nervously made his way out of the medical bay, looking to Ashley and Kaidan as they made for the elevator.

"Hey kid, come up to the cockpit with us, we're just about to go into the citadel." Kaidan said.

Michael sheepishly nodded his head, looking at his surroundings in astonishment. This was way beyond what the Initiative Labs looked like. Pym and Richards would be ecstatic if they were in this situation. He followed the two marines onto the elevator towards the upper deck. One thing he noticed was that elevators were still agonisingly boring in the future. Then when they reached CIC, Michael gasped. The galaxy map was small, but to Michael it only conveyed how far Humanity had gone. He had read about the Mass relays, astonishing devices that could propel ships to other systems in a flash.

"Come on kid, your going to miss it," Ashley said.

He followed them towards the cockpit and gasped as he looked out of the window. The Citadel's pictures didn't do the space station justice. It was a magnificent construct that would open to reveal its massive city and close to defend itself. Ships surrounded the station, including a monster of a ship.

"Wow," He muttered.

"The Destiny Ascension, flagship of the Citadel fleet," Kaiden said.

"Look at the size of it!" Ashley gasped.

"Well size isn't everything," Joker said.

"Jealous Joker?"

"I'm just saying you've got to have firepower too."

"Look at that monster, its main gun could rip through the barriers of any alliance ship!"

"Good thing its on our side," Kaiden muttered.

"All right, Ashley, Kaiden, get your gear together, Michael go see Captain Anderson, he'll guide you to C-Sec academy!" Shepard said.

Michael looked away from the window and nodded to Shepard. Ashley and Kaiden both gave him pats on the shoulder before walking with the Commander. Michael took notice of his surroundings, the crewmembers working at CIC and Joker. He noticed that the pilot had crutches underneath his chair. The man must have had a leg condition. Michael walked down the CIC corridor, finding his way back to the elevator. He went down one floor, to the deck where the medical lounge was. Captain Anderson was already waiting.

"Good to see your up and about son, before I go to the Presidium I have to drop you off with C-Sec Academy. C-Sec is the police service in the Citadel; they handle all issues of security, law and public safety throughout the station. Your about to encounter many more alien species besides Turian's Michael, I need to know that you'll adapt to their appearances. The cover story is that you grew up moving exclusively amongst human colonies and have never seen other alien races or been to the citadel in your life." Anderson explained as the two of them walked out of the Normandy.

Shepard, Kaiden and Ashley were waiting outside, dressed in full combat gear. Something Michael found odd, were they expecting gunfire in a civilian area? Then again Michael had read in his codex that apparently 99% of humanity had no idea who Elvis was, so obviously a lot was wrong in the future. They walked into an elevator that Anderson said would take them to C-Sec. Michael waited…and waited…and waited.

"Guess elevators are still slow," Michael muttered.

Shepard groaned, agreeing with Michael whole-heartedly. When the elevator finally stopped, Michael gasped in awe. The C-Sec academy was an impressive place, seeing the amount of aliens and humans working together. Shepard stepped out of the elevator and saluted to Anderson.

"We'll meet you at the embassy captain!" Shepard said.

"Good luck kid," Ashley said, patting Michael on the back before saluting the captain.

Kaiden did the same before following Shepard onto another elevator. Michael found himself staring at two grey aliens talking with one another. They had a slim figure and deep black eyes.

"They're Salarian's Michael, try not to stare at everyone you meet, Asari might take it as a compliment but Krogan and Batarian's are two different stories," Anderson explained as he motioned for Michael to follow him.

Michael walked behind Anderon as they walked away from the elevator and through a set of corridors. To Michael C-Sec academy seemed incredibly dark, although the offices they passed had more light. Despite Anderson's advice Michael watched two reptilian aliens with big heads walk by. They must have been Krogan, seeing as how they were the biggest and meanest looking aliens, matching the Codex description of them having a warrior's culture. Anderson stopped at one of the offices, turning to Michael in shock. The young man was looking at a green alien with four legs and long arms; it was working at a holographic terminal and had some kind of device on its back.

"Ahem!" Anderson coughed, catching Michael's attention.

"Sorry Captain, Sorry Mr…"

"Don't worry Michael, that's a Keeper, they maintain all of the Citadels systems like plumbing and electrics."

"Oh, so these things are machines of some kind?" Michael asked.

"No one knows!"

"Not even the Council?"

"I see you didn't read too much, the Citadel wasn't created, it was found by the Asari centuries ago. You see Michael much of what we use, the technology we have has been left behind by the Protheans, the dominant species in the galaxy before the Asari began space exploration. Everything that you see, the Omni-tool, Shepard's armour, even the Normandy is based on the technology left behind by the Protheans." Anderson explained.

Michael was actually pretty shocked by that. Not just about the Prothean extinction but also about the Citadel. It sounded irresponsible of the Asari to just move into a deserted station inhabited by a species they still know nothing about, although humans may have done the same thing given the chance.

"I'm a little overwhelmed," Michael muttered.

"You've got every right to be, don't worry just tell the C-Sec agent everything that happened on Eden Prime and everything will be fine."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry Michael but I can't stay, Ambassador Udina will need to see me, just tell the C-Sec investigator what you feel will help him with the case. Your Codex has a map of the Citadel, when the time is right C-Sec will take you to the Citadel tower." Anderson explained.

He patted Michael's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. Michael nodded his head before saluting the captain. Anderson chuckled as he walked away; he had a feeling Michael would be fine. Michael waited for a moment, looking out at the scenery the C-Sec office overlooked. Everything seemed to be what the Sci-Fi channels imagined. People walked across the street in clothes with a style that Michael would only see at Camp Hammond, marines in armour similar to Shepard's, civilians in suits that looked expensive. The streets were cleaner and lighter and of course the flying cars zooming across the sky.

"Excuse me, are you one of the survivors from Eden Prime?"

Michael turned around to see an alien C-Sec agent. He was a Turian like Nihlus and Michael could tell he was C-Sex because of the blue and black armour he wore. The Turian wore a visor across his eye; the visor had a target indicator for it. His face scales weren't as elaborate as Nihlus's; the C-Sec agent only had small blue markings across his face.

"Is there a problem kid?" The Turian asked.

"Oh no…um its just this is the first time I've seen a Turian after Eden Prime," Michael said, immediately snapping into the cover story Anderson had thought of.

"So your from the human colonies? Take a seat kid and I'll ask you a few questions," The Turian said calmly, motioning to an unoccupied chair.

"Thanks Mr Uh…"

"Garrus Vakarian!"

* * *

The Wards were a dark place in comparison to the Presidium. Shepard didn't often come to this part of the Citadel. He wasn't used to the upper class atmosphere that the Presidium portrayed. The only time he would come was if he was in Citadel space and he had to report to a human representative. Today was such a case as Shepard handed in his report to Ambassador Udina. Udina was a man passed his fifties whom had spent many years in politics. His job mostly involved arguing with the council, such as he did now.

"This is an outrage!" Udina growled.

Shepard of course knew that Udina was outmatched. After all his opponents were three of the most powerful politicians in the galaxy, even if they didn't admit it. The Citadel Council consisted of an Asari, a Salarian and a Turian. And of course Shepard had no idea what their names were, he never really cared to learn.

"The Council would step in if the Geth attacked a Turian Colony!"

"The Turian's do not form colonies on the edge of the Terminus Systems Ambassador," The Salarian Councillor said.

"Humanity was well aware of the risk when it entered the traverse," The Asari said.

Shepard resisted the urge to huff, three aliens ganging up on a human. It seemed like a form of karma, a large majority of humans were bullies after all. But Shepard still felt that the council was ganging up the councillor and pretty much humanity as a whole.

"What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre I demand action."

"You don't get to make demands to the council Ambassador Udina," The Turian Councillor said.

"Citadel Security is investigating this matter, their findings will be discussed at the hearing not before," As usual the Asari made herself out to be the diplomat of the group, but Shepard knew for a fact that she was just as indifferent to humanity's fate as the other councillors.

The Council cut the communication line, their holograms disappearing. Udina rubbed his head before turning to Captain Anderson. The Captain entered the room just as the meeting ended.

"I see you at least managed to get a meeting with the council," Anderson said.

"They aren't happy about it Captain, Saren is their top agent they don't like him being accused," Udina explained.

"Saren's a threat to every human colony, if the council doesn't stop him I will," Shepard snapped.

"Settle down commander, you've already done enough to jeopardise your candidacy for the Spectres. Eden Prime was supposed to show that you could get the job done, instead Nihlus ends up dead and a civilian destroys the Beacon."

"That's Saren's fault not Shepard's or Michael's," Anderson interrupted the Ambassador, before he could say something to further anger Shepard.

"Then lets hope that C-Sec turns up something useful in their investigation, Captain you and I need to discuss the hearing," Udina said.

"Very well, Shepard, the meeting with the Council will take place in an hour, you and your team can meet us at the Citadel Tower, there should be a Cab waiting down stairs." Anderson explained.

Shepard nodded to the Captain, accepting the dismissal order. He, Kaidan and Ashley walked out of Udina's office, leaving the two older men to talk. Udina took a seat at his desk, motioning for Anderson to sit as well. Anderson calmly sat as Udina typed at his console. The Ambassador's face was one of irritation, as he no doubt read further into the Eden Prime report.

"Anderson we need to discuss this witness, Michael Van Patrick, who is he?" Udina asked.

Here it was, the part Anderson dreaded. Udina would no doubt be sceptical about Michael's situation. Even Anderson himself was doubting the boy's story. Udina was a thorough man, but he wasn't that thorough. Anderson only remembered the name and made the connection because he had once done a thesis on the last human civil war before the United Nations expanded into the Alliance. Udina was a politician, but even he hadn't read as far back as Anderson had in regards to Michael's origin.

"He came to Eden Prime as a Stowaway Ambassador, he's a wanderer, going from place to place with what little he has." Anderson hoped that his lie would satisfy Udina.

"I know of cases where birth's haven't been recorded, the only record Shepard has is his Alliance application form and everything after that. Perhaps this Michael Van Patrick is Earthborn."

Thankfully Udina wasn't a very curious man. Anderson's lie had done its job. The two men went over the data of the mission, what Shepard had seen as well as Michael's exposure to the Prothean beacon. Shepard walked around the Presidium with Ashley and Kaidan. While the two marines went to the Emporium, Shepard walked into Barla Von's bank. Barla was a Volus and like many Volus's he specialised in running a business. The short man was a banker, though Shepard had heard that he was also an information trader.

"Ah Shepard (wheeze) what can I do for you?" Barla asked.

"The usual draw out, along with a little extra, a thousand credits extra," Shepard said, typing the authorisation code for his account.

"I can forward the five hundred credits from your recent mission to the youth charity on Earth (wheeze) what do you intend to do with the (wheeze) other thousand?" The Volus looked curiously at the commander.

"A gift for a special case!" Shepard said, giving Barla Von a look that told him to forget what he saw.

Shepard's reputation was as a ruthless renegade. But Shepard wasn't a man who lived in luxury or wasted money on pointless vices. His career was a marine; his life's work was as a marine. He handled his finances well, taking what he needed for food and saving the rest. Every few months he'd donate a few hundred credits to a charity on Earth that specialised in youth projects to distract children from the lure of gangs. Whenever Shepard did have free time it would be on something small like a drink at a club.

"See you later Barla," Shepard lazily waved as he walked out of the bank.

Ashley and Kaidan both waited, with Ashley shaking her head at the Presidium Lake.

"Big lake they've got, wonder if anyone's drowned in it," She muttered.

"I didn't know you had an account on the Citadel Commander," Kaidan said.

"One account here, another at jump zero and one on my Omni-tool, come on its time we got going," Shepard walked ahead, dismissing any questions his teammates would have.

Shepard walked towards a console and summoned a cab that would take them to the Citadel tower.

* * *

Garrus Vakarian wasn't a very patient man. That much Michael knew as the interview went on. Garrus didn't ask any questions about what was going on before the attack. He only focused on the attack and the moment when Michael had witnessed Saren.

"That other man Powel, he also vouched for Saren being there, with your testimony I've got a chance but I still need more," Garrus said.

"What more could you need?" Michael asked.

"Saren being here so I can nail him to a cell myself, and maybe a council that'll actually let me look over Saren's files, I haven't even been allowed to interview him or read the Eden prime reports."

"You mean he's suspected of terrorism and they still cover for him?"

"Saren's a Spectre, everything he touches is classified. Damned red tape, come on we'll take my car to the safe house."

"Safe house?"

"Yeah, since you're a witness there's a chance a hit might get organised, we can't risk you getting killed."

"Wait Mr Vakarian, I think it would be better if I went, it'll be easy for the Council to ignore your evidence, but if they see the evidence from the source then it'll be harder for them to ignore," Michael explained.

Garrus put a hand to his chin and nodded, what appeared to be a smile going over his face.

"You ever thought of joining C-Sec?" The Turian asked.

"Not really," Michael said, after all he already had a team waiting for him.

Garrus and Michael both climbed into the hover car. Michael was tempted to hum a star wars tune, but he stopped himself. Now he knew how the Fantastic Four felt, hover cars were cool. He looked out of the window, watching in astonishment as hover cars dashed past one another. People were waiting at stations, climbing into busses. Taxi drivers were beeping their horns and yelling out curses at other drivers. The future didn't seem to be all that different from the past.

* * *

Shepard quite frankly felt relief as the taxi took him and his squad to Citadel Tower. Flying straight to the tower was better than going up that agonising elevator. He, Ashley and Kaidan stepped out of the elevator and a smile crossed Ashley's face. Michael arrived with a Turian, whom was wearing C-Sec armour. Michael waved at the group and looked to his Turian friend as he began arguing with another Turian.

"Damn it Palin he's a witness, I need him to talk to the council," Garrus said.

"Don't be ridiculous Garrus, not just anyone gets to see the council," Executor Palin said.

"I'm sorry sir, if your Garrus's superior officer then with all due respect I think it'll help the case if the Council sees the evidence from its source. But if you're still adamant on keeping the council safe then feel free to check me for weapons." Michael raised his arms.

Executor Palin looked the boy over, he looked like he could handle himself in a fight. But without a gun he was no threat to the council.

"If you show hostility or disrespect to the council then you'll be held in contempt of court, remember that boy," Palin said.

"Yes sir!"

"You see Garrus, that's the kind of respect that makes a good officer."

Garrus muttered something as Palin walked away. The investigator turned to Shepard's group; giving the commander a short nod he introduced himself.

"Commander, Garrus Vakarian, I was the C-sec agent in charge of the Saren investigation."

"Sounds like you made progress," Shepard said, looking at Michael.

"Good luck Michael, Shepard, hopefully they'll listen to you," Garrus said, offering his hand to Michael.

"It was nice to meet you Garrus," Michael said.

The young man shook Garrus's hand, smiling as the investigator walked away.

"Looks like you found a buddy, hell even the Executor guy seemed to like you," Ashley said, ruffling Michael's hair.

"I just know how to talk to people, now don't we have a bad guy to put away?" Michael asked.

He smiled as he walked with Shepard's group. Already he was bringing bad guys down, and he hadn't even graduated from Camp Hammond.

"You're here, good, the meetings just starting," Anderson said, leading the group up the steps towards the council chamber.

Michael would have wowed at the scene. People of many species were overlooking the council, each representative stood on a pedestal. To their left was a hologram of the man this hearing was about. Saren, Michael noticed Anderson glaring at the Turian. Clearly there was personal history between the two. An older man was in front of Anderson, he had greying hair and wore a white uniform over a blue shirt. He must be humanities representative. The council itself consisted of a Turian, a hooded Salarian.

'They look like those "grey" aliens,' Michael noted.

And an Asari, who looked young but Michael had read that they lived for hundreds of years. She wore a red and white dress and had white markings on her face. The Asari Councillor was the first to speak, in fact it seemed as if she had been talking for some time.

"The Geth attack on Eden Prime is a matter of some concern, but there is no evidence to indicate that Saren was involved in anyway," She explained.

"Witnesses saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood," Udina said.

"I resent these accusations," Saren cut in, his holographic form standing over everyone present. "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre and a friend."

"You were going to shoot him in the back, that ain't friendship" Michael growled.

Saren looked down at the human boy, while the council watched in confusion.

"Who is this boy?" Saren asked, feigning ignorance.

"Michael Van Patrick, Council, I was on Eden Prime, I saw what the Geth did. People impaled on spikes, turned into some kind of technorganic monsters. And in the midst of that chaos I see two Turian's, one in red armour, the other in silver, Saren prepared to shoot Nihlus right in the back of the head. But then I yelled out, warning Nihlus. Instead Saren shot him in the chest, I did everything I could to save Nihlus. But he died, he died knowing who killed him."

Michael balled his hand into a fist, squeezing tightly as he closed his eyes. Anderon put a hand on his shoulder, watching someone die for the first time was never an easy experience. Saren's face remained unreadable; he merely crossed his arms and turned to the council.

"I did read the Eden Prime reports, including a list of citizens and military personnel, I didn't find the name Michael Van Patrick there. Clearly the Captain has coerced a human child into lying for him, he is at the front whenever humanity makes claims against me," Saren explained.

"That's correct, Captain Anderson has often worked against you, how do we know this boy isn't lying?" The Turian councillor said.

"The witness testimony of a traumatised dockworker and a child is hardly compelling proof," said the Salarian councillor.

"How dare you, we were there, Michael held his bare hands against Nihlus's chest to stop the bleeding," Shepard growled.

"Ah and this must be Anderson's protégé, Commander Shepard, I heard of your actions during Eden Prime, I'm not impressed," Saren said.

"How does he know about Commander Shepard being at Eden Prime anyway?" Michael asked, moving ahead of Udina.

"After Nihlus's death his case reports are given to me, the agent he trusted most. I read the reports on Eden Prime and I noticed that no one knew that you lived there Mr Van Patrick. Did you go to Eden Prime illegally or did you pop out of thin air?" Saren asked.

Michael saw the ghost of a smirk across Saren's face. Did he know about him? But then Michael realised something else. He brushed past Udina, looking directly at the council.

"This is unbelievable, are you people idiots, this guys a suspect and you give him the files. What the hell is wrong with you? What kind of idiots voted for you huh? People are _dead_, one of your own agents is _dead_, and your not even doing everything you can to find his killer. WHAT IDIOTS VOTED FOR YOU!"

"Ambassador Udina, please remove this young man from the council chambers," The Asari Councillor said.

"Pull yourself together boy your not helping," Udina said.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT! Those people are idiots, what the hell kind of logic do they make their decisions by?"

"Michael!" Shepard said, grabbing the young man's arm firmly. "Agreeing with Udina isn't something I do often but he's right."

"There is still one more issue, the matter of Michael's vision," Anderson said.

"Are we allowing dreams into this hearing, how am I supposed to defend myself against such testimony?" Saren asked.

"I agree, our decisions must be based on facts, not wild imaginings," The Turian councillor said.

Shepard and Michael both shared the same thoughts. They really didn't like the Turian councillor.

"Do you have anything further to add Commander Shepard?" The Asari councillor asked.

"You've already made your decision, I wont waste my breath," Shepard said.

"We find insufficient evidence to convict Saren, this meeting of the council is adjourned."

"I'm glad to see justice was served," Saren said smugly.

Shepard glared at the Turian. Saren inwardly grinned as he cut the communication line. The human did have a point; the council were a bunch of idiots. He was proud to say he didn't vote for his representative. Shepard and his group walked out of the council chamber, with Udina sighing over what had transpired.

"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing Captain, you and Saren have too much history, it made the council question our motives," Udina explained.

"What the hell was that there? They are the council? I hate to think what the rest of the galaxy is like if people like them are in charge," Michael said.

Only Shepard and Anderson knew how Michael felt. If he really was from an alternate reality as he said then he had just entered a whole new world completely different from what he was used to.

"Michael, I think it'll be best if you go, C-Sec should have a safe house available for you," Shepard said.

"You guys have a plan for Saren right, I want to help," Michael said.

"Forget it kid, you're a civilian, the last thing we need is you getting injured. Here, activate your Omni-tool, I'll transfer some credits into your wallet, buy yourself a gun, in case Saren sends someone after you but don't leave C-Sec custody."

"I want to help."

"And I'm telling you you've got nothing to offer us," Shepard said coldly, handing Michael the credit chit.

Michael widened his eyes before shaking his head. He walked away from the group, not even bothering to reply to Ashley's "see you later". It seemed like Camp Hammond all over again. People not taking him seriously because he wasn't augmented, then changing their tune when he showed them what he could do. The only difference now was that Shepard didn't even want to see what he had.

"Excuse me, Mr Van Patrick, Garrus Vakarian sent us, we're to escort you to the safe house in the Wards," A Turian C-Sec agent said.

"Sure, there's nothing for me here anyway," Michael said.

He didn't stop to look back at the group. They had everything under control after all. The C-Sec car took off, leaving citadel tower and joining the traffic jam. Michael looked around, the car seemed like any other C-Sec patrol car, side doors and bulletproof plates. He noticed that the windows were tinted; he couldn't see a thing out of them. But hearing the other cars hovering past told Michael that they were in a traffic queue. He noticed that both Turian's were keeping an eye on him, one looking in the front mirror.

"I wonder what all the fuss is about with you," One of the officers said.

"A jobs a job," The other Turian said.

He reached for his holster, pulling out a pistol of some kind. Michael stared at the gun for a moment before sighing.

"Should have known there would be dirty cops in this world," He said.

"What was that human?"

"Just a bit of advice, I can assume you're here to kill me on Saren's behalf, if that's the case then there's a problem."

"What problem?" The Driver asked smugly.

"You'll have to catch me first," Michael grinned.

He opened the door and rolled out of the car. The dirty agents widened their eyes in utter shock while Michael grinned. He was doing what every unregistered hero did, improvising!

Next Chapter 5: Leads

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, everyone's favourite Turian has been introduced, next time I'll introduce the Quarian and the Krogan. Plus MVP shows off what he learnt at the Initiative.

Tell us what you thought of the chapter please


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel or Mass Effect

Looking forward to the release of Mass Effect 3 (i know still a long time to wait) So at some point I'll probably put up a string of Mass Effect stories. But right now I turn your attentiont to the next chapter. Hope everyone likes it.

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 5: Leads

It went against everything he had been taught at the Initiative, but he didn't have room for planning right now. Jumping out of the taxi was perhaps the stupidest idea he had. But a lot of the heroes from his world did stupid things and they seemed all right. Michael rolled onto the roof of an "air taxi", causing the Salarian driver eyes to nearly pop out.

"What the hell is he doing?" One of the Turian assassins asked.

"He's crazy," his partner said.

Michael immediately got up and jumped for an incoming vehicle. It looked like a large transport vehicle. He grabbed a handle on the side of the load, gripping for deer life. The Batarian driver kept his eyes on the road, unaware of the human dangling from his cargo. Looking for other places, Michael saw a transport similar to a bus. Then he saw the assassins hover car. With precise timing Michael let go of the cargo handle and fell onto the roof of a bus. The passengers in side looked up as they heard the crashing sound. Getting up off the floor, Michael balanced and looked around him. Cars were flying past the transport as it continued its normal route. Michael then spotted it, a bus stop. This may have been a different world, but a crowd of people waiting still meant the same thing it did in his world. Michael looked behind him and cursed. The Assassin car was right behind him, and worse it had glowing blue sirens on it.

"STOP HUMAN!" One of the bad cops yelled over the microphone.

The bus was still heading for the stop, Michael ran towards the front, with the car chasing after him. He jumped towards the bus stop, landing at the edge of the platform. Michael flailed his arms, momentarily losing balance before he recovered. The humans and aliens of all shapes and sized looked at him in confusion. Thinking back to his training, Michael only thought of one thing to say.

"Citizens, do not try that at home," He said.

Technically it counted as both a wisecrack and a health and safety warning.

"Citizens stop that human now, he's a criminal!" One of the assassins grinned as he spoke into the microphone.

Michael cursed under his breath as they aliens gave him an uneasy look. Three Turian's stepped forward through the crowd.

"Give it up human, there's nowhere to go," One of the Turian's said.

"Look your trying to be a good guy and support the police I know that, but really things aren't what they seem," Michael explained.

But the three men wouldn't listen and Michael felt one of the dirty cops get out of the parked car. When one of the Turian's went for his arm he immediately thought back to training. He grabbed the Turian's arm, curled his leg behind the Turian's and thrust his hand into the Turian's chest. Michael slammed the Turian into the ground, using the alien's weight against him. Then he caught the fist of the other Turian and kicked his feet out, tripping him to the floor. The Turian C-Sec officer drew his gun and Michael knew he only had seconds to react. He quickly kicked the Turian citizen in the chest, hoping he'd forgive him for the steel toecaps later. Michael then grabbed the officer's arm, diverting his aim to the sky. Gunshots echoed through the area and the crowd ran away. Michael then delivered a quick punch to the dirty cop's face. He tripped the officer to the ground and threw the gun aside. With his opponents down, Michael took this opportunity to do what he did best, run like hell.

* * *

Shepard and his ground team stood with Udina and Anderson. Right now they needed to get information on Saren and there were two possible leads to follow. Garrus Vakarian was the Turian C-Sec Officer in charge of Saren's case. Udina told Shepard of a contact he had in C-Sec, Harkin. Anderson then pointed out interesting details about Harkin. He had been one of the first human C-sec recruits and according to Anderson a disgrace to the species ever since. Harkin's list of faults including taking bribes, roughing up suspects and other acts that spelt dirty cop. He had also been suspended for drinking on the job. Another lead was Barla Von, he worked for the Shadow Broker and would most likely have information about Saren. But of course it wouldn't come cheap. So Shepard settled for Harkin, the one whose information would be free. But not before he got some answers from Anderson.

"So is it true? You know Saren personally?" Shepard asked.

Anderson lowered his head slightly and that confirmed Shepard's thoughts.

"About Twenty years ago Saren and I worked together to eliminate a known threat, the mission was a success but a lot of good people died," Anderson explained.

"That's the kind of work a Spectre does right? Its one of the reasons I'm being recommended," Shepard said.

"Saren's different, he'll kill thousands without any hesitation."

"Sometimes a thousand have to die so that a million can live," Kaidan and Ashley both widened their eyes at the Commander's statement.

Anderson however frowned as if taking a challenge. Though also wondering if Shepard would make good on such a statement.

"I know how the world works Shepard, sacrifices have to be made but only if there's no other way. Saren doesn't even look for another answer," He said.

"I see, I should go Captain," Shepard said, saluting Anderson before walking away.

Anderson returned the salute and sighed as Shepard walked away. Shepard was known for his win at all cost attitude, but the man still had ideals. That was why Anderson had Shepard recommended over Elysium veterans or biotic prodigies. Commander Shepard knew the streets, knew crime and his first psyche evaluation showed that he had a positive opinion of aliens. That was something no other candidate had, a willingness to interact and even work with aliens. Anderson smiled as he saw Shepard talk to a Salarian that had been looking at one of the Keeper's. Shepard's willingness to work with aliens was exactly what Anderson was counting on not only to get humanity a seat on the council but also to be the best Spectre of them all.

"I can't believe the council ignored all the evidence we had against Saren," Ashley said as the elevator took the squad down to the Presidium.

"Saren's their best agent, its only natural they've take his side over ours," Kaidan said.

"So we're stuck chasing leads while this smug Turian goes off with his Geth army?"

"That's politics chief."

"I hate politics," Ashley said.

When the elevator finally stopped, Shepard kneeled by the Keeper beside the VI terminal. He had spoken to a Salarian researcher by the name of Chorban. Chorban had been scanning a Keeper, one of the caretakers for the Citadel. According to Chorban the Keepers weren't allowed to be interrupted or "disturbed". Seeing a quick money making opportunity Shepard volunteered his services. He activated his omni-tool and used that scanner Chorban had given him. The device automatically sent the data to Chorban and a few credits were put into Shepard's account. Shepard smirked as he walked down the Presidium, scanning any Keepers he happened to find. The group made their way to the lower wards of the Citadel.

In comparison to the Presidium the wards were dark and gloomy. Shepard knew that this was the place where all the action happened. The Presidium was the place where protests and litter occurred. But the Wards were dens for murderers, drug dealers and all sorts of thugs that Shepard had long since stopped associating himself with. But Shepard knew that if he became a Spectre that may have been something he would have to change. Stopping for a momentary rest, Shepard looked out at a balcony that gave the group a view of the whole Citadel.

"Big place," Kaidan said.

"That your professional opinion sir?" Ashley asked.

"This place isn't a station, it's a city," Shepard pointed out.

"There must be millions here. It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going."

"This makes jump-zero look like a porta-john, and it's the largest deep space station the alliance has," Ashley said.

"Jump zero is big but this is a whole other scale. Look at the ward arms, how do they keep all that mass from flying apart?" Kaidan wondered.

"The council represents more races than we thought. No wonder they're careful with newcomers," Shepard said.

"They probably just want to keep everything running, it has to be hard keeping track of all these cultures working together."

Shepard agreed with Kaidan's statement. Then again he also knew that so far the Council hadn't even attempted to provide humanity with any help unless it furthered their own interests. On the other hand, Shepard knew that some societies would only accept others if they could provide something.

"Maybe they just don't like humans," Ashley said.

The Commander huffed at Ashley's comment. As usual she appeared to be xenophobic, at least in terms of how she would look and speak to aliens. It actually reminded Shepard of himself slightly.

"Why not like us? I mean we've got oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love. According to those old fashioned vids we've got everything the Citadel would want!" Shepard explained, it was a joke of course.

"If you expect to get me in a tin foil miniskirt and thigh high boots, I want dinner first…sir," Ashley hastily added.

Kaidan laughed softly while Shepard smirked.

"That will be all chief," Kaidan said.

"At ease Lieutenant, I can't see her in a skirt anyway," Shepard said as he walked away.

"Damn straight you cant," Ashley nervously said.

Shepard felt like adding that Ashley was already good looking without the fancy dress. But he didn't really want another harassment accusation. He remembered a Yeoman he once knew when he was a young private. To make a long story short the young Shepard flirted and got accused of both sexual harassment and fraternisation. Fortunately a few months later Shepard made his name at Torfan. Still, Shepard hoped one day he'd get his own Yeoman, someone who would actually flirt with him. Shaking the thought out of his head, Shepard went back to mission mode. The small break was over and he had a job to do. Harkin would be at Chora's den, so the most logical thing to do was find him and get the answers out of him, one way or another.

* * *

Michael continued to run through the Wards, making some distance between himself and his pursuers. He growled in frustration, so far he hadn't seen anyone in a C-Sec uniform. What the hell kind of police force were they? Suddenly, he felt his shoulder impact with something, or rather someone. Michael stopped, seeing that he had knocked over an alien. She was obviously female judging from the shape of her body. The young woman had three fingered hands and wore a grey containment suit of some kind. She pressed her hands against the floor, groaning as she tried to get up. Michael palmed his face for his stupidity. Etiquette was one thing they taught at Camp Hammond, but Michael didn't need that to know that when you knocked a woman down you had to help her up.

"Sorry about that," He said, offering the alien girl his hand.

"Its no problem, I wasn't looking where I was going," The girl said, taking Michael's hand.

He noticed the thick accent to her voice and the outline of her face behind her purple visor. Alls you could see was the outline of a nose and two eyes that seemed to glow in the light. Michael helped the woman up off the floor, smiling to comfort her.

"I'm the one at fault, I was in a hurry and I wasn't taking into account others around me. Again I'm sorry Miss…"

"Tali Zorah Nar Rayah," She said.

'Wow, long name' Michael thought. "Michael Van Patrick, I hope I didn't hurt you."

"No I'm fine thank you, why were you running if you don't mind me asking."

"I need to reach the C-Sec station, do you know where I can find it?" Michael asked.

"Well if your looking for the C-Sec academy those two officers over there might help you," Tali said.

She pointed behind Michael, who widened his eyes.

"STOP THAT HUMAN!" The two dirty cops yelled.

"Thanks, sorry again," Michael hastily said before running as fast as he could the other way.

He jumped over a parked air cab and rushed through a door as it opened. Tali watched the two Turian C-Sec agents run after the human. She could see the sweat dripping from their necks.

"God its like running after a rapid Varren," She couldn't stop herself from giggling at the agents comment.

Tali sighed; one of the only humans so far who had treated her with respect seems to be a criminal. Still it was a lot better than the other human's she had met. So far she had twice been accused of pick pocketing and the human C-Sec officers had so far given her the cold shoulder when she went to them for protection. But the owner of the local clinic Michel had treated her well. She had given Tali the contact details for Fist, a man who worked for the Shadow Broker. That in turn would give Tali the protection she needed. She didn't trust Fist, but it was better than letting Saren get to her.

Michael came to a halt as he reached a back alleyway. He saw a group of humans huddled together. So that meant he couldn't hide in one of the trash compactors. Turning around, Michael cursed as the worn out cops for closer and closer. He made for a run down the alley, but stopped as the human group suddenly blocked his way. They were all holding pamphlets of some kind that read Terra Firma. Michael groaned, dirty cops of xenophobes? Neither option seemed appealing.

"Hello sir, I'm Kyle Archer from Terra Firma, we're reaching out to the local Citadel populace, you wouldn't happen to be able to take part in a survey would you?" The leader asked.

Lowering his head, Michael sighed as he heard the Turian's walk closer and closer towards him.

"You human, stop…" One of the cop's let out a wheezy cough as he reached for his gun.

"EARTH FIRST!" One of the humans yelled.

Michael widened his eyes as the human moved forward, striking the Turian's hand with a crowbar. The Turian yelled as he clutched his broken hand. Before Michael could say anything he watched the Terra Firma members gang up on the two cops, knocking them to the ground. He could see that they were putting pure anger and hatred into their strikes. It reminded Michael of a time when he was younger. At school he had once witnessed a group of white students beating up a black man. Michael's father had called the police and had taught his son a valuable lesson.

"There is one thing that is pathetic in this world son, and that's hating someone purely because of their looks!"

Without a moments more hesitation, Michael placed his hand on the leaders shoulder.

"Stop this now," He demanded.

"We're just showing these Turians what happens when you gang up on humans. Two can play at the same game. That's what Terra Firma's about son, humans stick together because no one else will," The man explained.

"You didn't even ask them why they were chasing me, for all you know they could be two honest cops just doing their jobs. That isn't the case but the point still stands, the only reason your beating them up is because they're Turians."

The group stopped and turned to Michael, seeing the frown across his face.

"We're doing you a favour pal, humans have to stick together," One of the racists, ironically an African American man spoke.

"True, but you've done enough," Michael said.

Reasonable force had been part of Michael's camp Hammond training. Heroes don't kill unless absolutely necessary. Part of Michael's lessons involved judging reasonable ways to respond to a situation. For example disarming an individual with a weapon. He thought back to a lesson with the Black Widow, whom taught two ways. One a traditional disarm move for a knife wielder. Wait for the man to attack, grab his wrist and knock him to the floor. The force of his own weight hitting the ground stuns him enough to turn him around and lock his arm behind his back. Michael took this into account as he saw one of the Terra Firma members fiddle with a knife. No broken arm would be necessary; the pain would be enough to make a simple thug drop their blade.

"This is wrong, they're done so just walk away and leave me to deal with this my way. These guys are dirty cops but there's a better way to deal with them. I appreciate the help but I'm asking you now walk away," Michael explained, hoping they would listen.

Six men, it reminded Michael of a video he saw of Captain America. Justice showed him a fight Cap once had with six Hydra agents. The living legend used the numbers to his advantage. As Michael walked into the middle of the group he looked at the Turians. They were all looking up at him, like helpless pups. Michael heard the gang muttering around him. He sighed, but remembered something Gauntlet taught him.

"Forget Jackie Chan bull, take em down however you can," The Drill sergeant would say.

But the principal of self-defence still stood, wait for them to strike first.

"Alien lover," The leader said.

Michael reacted just in time, grabbing the knife wielders arm. He matched the movements his hero Cap had made years ago. Moving both swiftly and aggressively he knocked his opponent to the ground and twisted the man's arm enough for him to drop his knife. After kicking the knife down the alley, he looked to the other gang members. Looks of anger crossed their faces before they rushed towards him. In the confines of the narrow alley, Michael utilised the scenery and the numbers to his advantage. When he ducked, one of the gang members would hit the wall beside him. Though they were aggressive they lacked accuracy and focus in their blows. Michael ducked again, dodging a punch that accidentally hit an ally. Then Michael struck back, elbowing the gang member accidentally hit and punching the other in the chest. He swung his arm around and backhanded the gang leader. The gang members fell to the ground, groaning while Michael merely panted.

"You helped us, but why?" One of the Turian's asked.

"They were helping me for the wrong reasons, call yourselves a medic but don't follow me. Trust me when I tell you your working for the wrong guy," Michael explained as he picked up the gun.

He fiddled with the pistol, jamming the cocking mechanism. The young man took one final look at the astonished bad cops before breaking off into another run. When he ran through another door he stopped and admired the view he had of the Citadel Ward arms. He was now in a courtyard of some kind. Michael saw holographic signs pointing him in the direction of a med clinic. A place that was connected to public services was a good place to start.

* * *

Shepard allowed himself a small smile as he walked into Chora's den. It was his kind of place when he was off duty. Kaidan and Ashley both had their jaws on the ground for different reasons.

"A million light years from where humanity began, and we walk into a bar filled with drunk men drooling over half naked women shaking their asses on a stage. I can't decide if that's funny or sad!" Ashley explained.

"What, you don't think they're here for the food?" Kaidan asked.

"Hey LT, put your tongue back in your mouth before you trip over it."

The Commander shook his head while Kaidan blushed in embarrassment. True, Asari dancers were sexy, but the squad wasn't there for the view. Walking around the bar, Shepard came to a halt when he saw two Krogan arguing. One was in a bouncer's uniform; the other older Krogan wore red battle armour.

"Walk away Wrex, Fist told us to take you down if you showed up again," The Bouncer said.

"What's he waiting for? I'm standing right here, tell fist this is his only chance," The old Krogan was obviously making threats he could definitely back up.

"He's not coming out Wrex, end of story!"

"This story's far from over," Wrex said as he walked away.

Shepard got a good look at the Krogan's scarred face as they brushed past each other. They ignored one another and Shepard forgot about the event altogether as he spotted a human C-Sec officer. He was sat at his own table, drinking beer and burning cigarettes on his ashtray. Walking up to the table, Shepard didn't even need to introduce himself to get the man talking.

"Alliance navy huh, I could have bee a marine, but no I chose C-Sec. Biggest mistake of my life, anyway what do you want?" Harkin asked.

"Do you know where Garrus Vakarian is?" Shepard asked.

"I think I know you, you work for Anderson don't you? Say, did the old man tell you his big secret?"

"That doesn't matter, just tell me what I want to know," Shepard said impatiently.

"But it's all related, didn't Anderson tell you that he used to be a Spectre?"

"What?" Kaidan said in astonishment.

"Yeah, a few years ago he and Saren worked together, but he screwed up so bad that he got kicked out. He blames Saren, says the Turian set him up."

But before Harkin could say another word, Shepard lifted him off his seat.

"Garrus Vakarian, location, now!" Shepard growled.

"He was sniffing around Dr Michel's office, she works at the clinic not too far from here," Harkin explained.

"Thank you," Shepard said as he unceremoniously threw Harkin against the wall.

Ashley and Kaidan followed the commander out of the room. They speculated on Harkin's revelation, but it was no surprise for Shepard. Anderson had to have had some prior connection to Saren and the Spectres in order to know how the Turian operated. He knew that Anderson hadn't messed up, that somehow the Captain had been set up. After all Anderson got where he was today because of his flawless career. Walking back to the markets, Shepard made his way to the upper wards. It was time to find Garrus Vakarian.

* * *

Michael walked into the small clinic and widened his eyes at what he saw. A red haired woman was being threatened by a group of thugs. She was wearing a white and red version of Chakwas's uniform, while her attackers were in red and black fatigues. Unknown to them, none other than Garrus Vakarian was hiding behind the wall opposite them.

"I didn't tell them anything I swear," The woman said.

"Smart doc, now if you want to stay that way you keep your mouth shut when Garrus gets here," The man threatened.

Gritting his teeth together, Michael identified them as hostile. He saw the guns they had on their hips and without hesitation he broke off into a run. Then he jumped over the desk and slammed his legs into one of the thugs, sending the man flying into the window. Garrus then popped out of cover, putting a bullet in the leaders head. Michael punched one of the men before he could draw his pistol. He grabbed the back of the man's head and slammed him into the wall. Garrus levelled his pistol and fired several more shots as the other men drew their pistols. They dropped to the floor and Michael stepped away from the unconscious thug.

"Perfect timing Michael, you gave me the distraction I needed to nail those bastards," Garrus said.

"Sometimes you get lucky, what are you doing here Garrus?" Michael asked.

"I'm assuming that Dr Michel has information that can lead us to Saren," Shepard said as he and his squad entered the room.

"Shepard, good timing, I figured you'd want a shot at this too. Dr Michel, are you injured at all? Garrus asked.

"I'm fine thanks to your two, those men work for Fist, they wanted me to keep quiet about the Quarian," The Doctor explained.

"Quarian?" Michael asked.

"Alien race, they walk around in environment suits, most of the time they're being accused of robbery or they just stay out of trouble," Shepard explained.

"But this one came to me a few days ago, she needed my help in contacting the Shadow Broker, I put her in touch with Fist, the Broker's local agent!"

"Not anymore though, now he works for Saren, and the Broker isn't too happy about it," Garrus said.

"Fist betrayed the Shadow broker? That's stupid even for him."

"I take it the Shadow Broker's the big bad guy in the galaxy right, like Doom!" Michael said.

"Who?" Ashley asked.

"Um, I think I hit my head earlier," Michael muttered sheepishly. "Wait a minute, that Quarian will be walking into a trap, we need to go and save her."

"Michael's right, this is your show Shepard but I want a shot at Saren too," Garrus said.

"Why should I trust you?" Shepard asked.

"I couldn't find the evidence I needed but I knew Saren was up to something. He's a traitor to the Council and a disgrace to my people," Garrus explained.

"You've made your case, I think we're going to get along just fine," Shepard said as he shook Garrus's hand.

"You know we aren't the only ones after Saren, a Krogan was hired to kill Fist," Garrus said.

Shepard nodded his head; no doubt it was the Krogan from earlier. He looked to Michael, who picked up one of the guns left by the fallen mercenaries.

"All right, lets go pay Fist a visit," Shepard said.

Garrus smirked while the other crewmembers nodded their heads. Michael looked at the pistol for a moment before strapping it to his belt. He nodded his head to Shepard before following the man out of the clinic.

* * *

Cerberus station 616

Miranda Lawson remained stoic as she sent out another report to her superior. In fact he was the only superior officer she answered to. Her quarters had been adjourned with a symbol that she believed would become the symbol for humanity. Cerberus had numerous projects, all for the benefit of furthering the human cause. Miranda was in charge of at least six and she monitored each one with absolute perfection. She got off her chair, her black high heels clacking against the floor as she walked out of her office. The men turned to her as she entered the main lab. They were intimidated not just by her thin white and black uniform, but also by her ice-cold expression.

"Where is Doctor Van Damme?" Miranda asked a technician.

"He is away, but you wanted us to keep you prepped on that energy signature on Eden Prime?" The technician asked.

"Yes, what's status?"

"We can still detect residual energy over Eden Prime but that isn't the issue. A few minutes ago we detected a similar energy signature near the abandoned Pragia facility," The technician explained, showing Miranda the chart.

"Over Pragia, I see," Miranda muttered as she looked at the chart.

She saw the event on Eden Prime. The pictures taken showed the spaceport and an odd blue haze over a small area. Inside this blue haze was the silhouette of a person. Then Miranda looked at the scans of Pragia. A few miles away from the facility a bigger blue haze appeared. But this time instead of one silhouette it showed Seventeen people. That actually caused Miranda to raise her eyebrows slightly in shock.

"Where is Van Damme?" She asked.

"He's put a team together to go to Pragia."

"Get me a shuttle, I want to see what else has come from that other world!"

Next Chapter 6: Truth

* * *

Thats it, next time we'll see the assault on Chora's Den as well as Tali's reveal of Saren's plot.

Cerberus will play a role in the future, the Hades Dog side mission is one of a few side missions I'll write about. Plus there will be a whole big plot involving them.

So what did everyone think of the chapter? Thanks for reading


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

Here we are folks with my latest update, I know its been a while but I've just gotten out of college so i've been caught up with real life stuff like job interviews.

Anyway here's the chapter, and PS: I know Mass effect 3 will probably have a Codex entry or news describing how the Omni-Blade was created during that time, but in my fic the Omni-blade is a weapon common amongst N7 Troopers. So basically, Shepard's got something else that makes him bad ass :)

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 6: Truth

Shadow Broker Intel Files

**People of Interest:**

**Commander John Shepard**

**Birth Place: Earth, Unknown city**

**Parents: Unknown, records of birth certificate unobtainable**

**List of Notable Contacts:**

**Barla Von, Bank manager and Intel provider**

**Karlie Sofen, former psychiatrist**

**Captain David Anderson**

**Admiral Kahoku**

**Admiral Hackett**

**Other Alliance contacts (Link)**

**Asari Consort Shaira**

**Latest extranet Activities/Searches:**

**Eden Prime**

**Nihlus Kyrik**

**Council Spectres: Visited Council Spectre job description, Citadel News net Spectre report. Watched five seconds of Vid Spectres: For the good of All.**

**Search: Prothean's, Saren Arterius-No results found**

**Alliance Dossier: Ashley Williams**

**Search: Final human Civil War, Michael Van Patrick, Parallel reality theories, Steve Rogers**

**New File:Michael Van Patrick**

**Birth Place: Unknown**

**Parents: Unknown**

**Only available records dated pre humanity's fist contact**

**Known Information: Records speak of a Michael Van Patrick that was prominent during the final human conflict in America. Recorded as being a Captain in a vigilante movement. Reported as missing in Action, possibly killed in Action with other vigilantes.**

**Extranet Searches:**

**Discovery of Martian ruins**

**First contact war**

**Citadel Council**

**Turians**

**Salarians**

**Asari**

**How do Asari Reproduce?**

**Asari culture**

**Fornax site visited: Three seconds of Asari on Asari action watched, offer of subscription denied**

**Camp Hammond: No matches found**

**John Shepard**

**Skylian Blitz**

**Batarian News-The Tragedy of Torfan**

**Alliance Bugle-Victory of Torfan**

**Several hundred more searches (Link)**

**Personal Note:**

**Spy reported results of medical tests:**

"**Person of interest MVP possesses no genetic abnormalities, no cybernetic enhancements of any kind. Given basic Omnitool and translation chip by Captain David Anderson but subject has no genetic enhancement common amongst humans. Subject's DNA structure described as perfect."**

**Data uploaded to Cerberus. Credits received. Copy of Data saved!**

**Second Intel:**

**Cerberus Discovered second energy disturbance, capture team sent led by Victor Van Damme. Subjects recovered and contained. Personal note: Incident Connected to subject MVP, all contacts to monitor persons of interest and Cerberus activity!**

**Third Intel:**

**Citadel Contact in C-Sec custody. Making contact with Shepard now!**

* * *

The Citadel

C-Sec Academy didn't look like a place of learning, that was one of Michael's first thoughts as soon as the team got out of the elevator. Shepard had the team move with haste to the Academy, as apparently a person of interest was currently in custody. Garrus explained that a Krogan Mercenary had been hired to kill Fist. This Krogan; Wrex was currently being scolded by a human C-Sec agent. Shepard and his team watched the scene. Michael took note of the lizard like alien's gruff demeanour and lack of respect for authority. As he recalled there were quite a few characters like that on his Earth.

'Wrex seems like an appropriate name,' Michael thought, tapping his foot against the floor impatiently.

"Ashley, Kaidan take the kid to the C-Sec requisition officer, get him some cheap armour," Shepard said.

"What will you be doing commander?" Ashley asked.

"Negotiating," He muttered.

Shepard approached Wrex with a confident stride, showing no signs of intimidation as the Krogan turned to him.

"Do I know you human?" Wrex asked.

"Shepard of the Alliance, I've heard your after Fist, he's got something I want. So I thought it would make sense if we worked together," Shepard explained.

"Shepard huh…I've heard of you, we're both warriors Shepard. So with respect I'll be honest with you, I'm going to kill Fist," Wrex let out a low growl as he spoke.

The action didn't take Shepard back, he was used to the speaking habits of all aliens. He could keep up with Salarian and Elcor pace, he would tolerate the unique communication of the Hanar as well as the constant pause for breaths Volus took. If anything he enjoyed speaking with Krogan, as evidenced by the slight smile he showed when he responded to Wrex's statement.

"Alls I need is information, I'll even be willing to pull the trigger myself once I have it. But Fist knows your coming Wrex, help me and I'll help you."

"We have a saying among my people, seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend!"

Wrex offered the Commander his hand and without a moments hesitation Shepard shook it.

"I can tell we're going to get along just fine Wrex!"

Meanwhile down in the Requisitions office, Ashley, Kaidan and Garrus waited as Michael dressed into the armour he bought. Stepping out of the changing room, Michael revealed the light Onyx class armour he had bought. The suit was virtually identical to the one Kaidan wore.

"So how do I look?" Michael asked.

"Like you need a haircut kid," Ashley grinned, ruffling the boy's head of hair.

"Very funny, your hair isn't exactly regulation length either!"

"You all right with that pistol Michael? I could buy you a cheap Avenger rifle," Kaidan said.

"Its no problem Lieutenant."

"Please call me Kaidan!"

"Okay Kaidan," Michael smiled.

Michael felt the bang of footsteps as Shepard and their newest ally walked down the stairs. Wrex had a grey Banshee rifle strapped to his back and a Hurricane shotgun on his waist. Shepard motioned for the squad to follow him, wasting no words for introductions. The group went out the way they came in, onto the elevator that would take them to the Wards. Michael turned his head nervously to see Shepard looking at him.

"Is there a problem Shepard?" Michael asked.

"No Van Patrick, I was just noting how familiar you are with the armour, its almost like you were born to be a soldier," Shepard said.

"Are you a military brat Michael?" Ashley asked.

"No, there's actually no army background in my family, my mom never worked and I usually helped my dad with the Organic foods farm he runs," Michael nervously rubbed his head, unsure of how much of his life he should reveal.

Kaidan and Ashley looked to Michael in interest at his statement.

"There's no a lot of organic farms around anymore," Kaidan stated.

Shepard noticed Michael's hesitant expression. Telling Kaidan and Ashley about Michael's story would be troublesome. The Commander knew that at some point they would have to know. Michael Van Patrick wasn't there by accident, that was Shepard's assumption. Shepard's had several philosophies, but one was paramount; in politics and tactics it is sensible and safe to assume the worst possible scenario. Whatever had happened to put Michael in this world would have ramifications later. Although Shepard sincerely hoped that Michael was just crazy.

"All right people lets get focused on the matter at hand, Chora's Den is hardly an impenetrable fortress but it'll still be an easy place to defend. Since there's only one entrance into the club the guards will have on place to focus on, but with chairs and tables as well as the bar we'll have of places to find cover, we go in fast and quick. Advantages we'll have will be firepower and defence as well as overall experience. Most of Fists staff will be simple thugs or bouncers, he has at least two Krogan and as you know Krogan's are fighters so be careful," Shepard explained.

"The Shadow Broker gave me some Intel before I took the job, Fist has two automated defence turrets in his office, standard equipment for the Shadow Broker's contacts," Wrex added.

"But knowing Fist he wouldn't have used his money to buy his men better equipment," Garrus said.

"Exactly, this mission will be easy, we move in, find Fist and extract the Quarian," Shepard stated.

The group walked down the Ward. People would look at them with mixed expression. Some looked in curiosity, others stumbled away in fear. But panic was the last thing people on the Citadel did. People walking around with guns wasn't a surprising thing. They either knew who Shepard was and were smart enough to stay out of the way, or they were simply smart enough to stay out of the way. Shepard drew his shotgun as the group left the markets. Chora's Den's blue Asari model was still illuminated. Everyone followed Shepard's actions in drawing their guns as they approached the entrance. Shepard took point, drawing a grenade from his belt. As soon as the doors flew open, Shepard let the grenade fly.

Alcohol and glass sprayed across the club as the explosive hit the bar. Two men were caught in the explosion, while another had his face bridled with glass. Taking advantage of the confusion, Shepard gave the command to fire. Garrus fired a bullet from his Mantis sniper rifle, dropping a marksman on top of the bar. The guard fell on top of another guard, who had tried to use a table as cover. A blue aura glowed around Kaidan as he picked up a chair with his Biotics. Throwing the chair like a softball, Kaidan sent the projectile crashing into a guard. The impact of the chair hit the man so hard that his skull cracked. Ashley aimed her Avenger rifle and fired a flurry of bullets. The guards took cover, hiding behind the tables and chairs they knocked over. Shepard and Ashley rolled between cover, dodging bullets as they made their way to their targets. A Krogan bouncer fired slugs from his shotgun in an attempt to hit Shepard.

"Wrex, Warp now!" Shepard ordered.

Wrex's body lit up in a similar fashion to Kaidan's own biotics. The Krogan Battle master threw his hand forward, sending a blue wave crashing into the younger Krogan. With his target dazed, Shepard rushed out of cover and activated his Omni-tool. An energy blade suddenly slid out of the gauntlet and Shepard ruthlessly shoved the Omni-Blade through the Krogan's mouth. As the Krogan fell, Shepard raised his shotgun and fired two slugs. One sent a guard flying into the wall, while the second split open a man's head.

Michael watched the display of skill, coordination and ruthlessness. It was very different from what he saw at Camp Hammond. But he couldn't help but draw comparison to the numerous teams on his Earth. In just a brief time, Shepard's team moved as one, with every member using his or her talents to their fullest. Michael dared to move away from cover, aiming his pistol as a guard prepared to shoot at Kaidan. The thought of killing another man was one Michael tried to keep out of his head. On his Earth heroes don't kill and that was a principle he was willing to keep. Pulling the trigger on his pistol, Michael hit the guard's wrist, forcing him to put his gun down. Kaidan then threw his hand forward, Biotically throwing the guard into the wall.

"KROGAN CHARGING!" Garrus yelled.

The roar of the charging Krogan caught Michael's attention. He ducked for cover as the Krogan fired his shotgun. Garrus drew his pistol, shooting at the Krogan with Kaidan. But the Krogan kept charging as if he was possessed. Suddenly, Wrex slammed into the side of the younger Krogan, throwing him onto the bar. His hands gripped the bouncer's neck and with a quick jerk of his arms he twisted the Krogan's neck.

"Everyone, move forward, weapons up," Shepard said as he and Ashley moved towards the door.

Michael moved out of cover, looking at the damage they had done. A large majority of the guards were dead. It went against what he was taught at Camp Hammond, but ordinary people without super powers didn't have the luxury of simply disarming opponents. Michael was willing to kill in self-defence, but killing people that couldn't fight back was another story. When Shepard opened the second door they were again met with guns. But this time the guns were in the hands of two men that didn't look suited to guard duty.

"Stop right there, don't come any closer," One of the men said.

"These guys aren't guards Shepard," Michael said.

"What gave it away? I think its time you found a new employer," Shepard smirked as the two men quivered.

"Uh yeah, lets go!"

"Yeah I never liked Fist anyway," The other man said.

They dropped their guns and walked past the group.

"It would have been quicker to just kill them," Wrex grumbled.

"Shooting people isn't always the answer," Garrus said.

Shepard moved towards the door, trading his shotgun for his pistol. While he began hacking the lock on the door, Wrex forced open one of the lockers, taking the credits and Omni-gel inside. As soon as Shepard opened the door, Shepard and his team stormed through into Fist's office. The brown haired man stood at his desk, wearing black and red Colossus armour. He growled as he saw the weapons aimed at him.

"Why do I have to do everything myself?" He mumbled, slamming a button on his desk.

Two Miniguns slid out of the walls beside him, aiming at the group. They immediately went for cover as they two turrets bombarded the walls behind them. Shepard ran out of cover, moving to the wall across from the team, putting himself on Fist's right side. He peaked his head out of cover, then jerked his head back in. Fist fired his assault rifle from behind his desk, stopping only to cower.

"Bastard's hiding as usual, can't even looks us in the eye when he kills us," Wrex growled.

"I once read that some Omni tools were equipped with tech to overload machines, do have any of you have something like that?" Michael asked.

"I've got Overload tech," Kaidan said.

"Me too," Garrus added.

"Perfect, two overloads, two guns, how long will they be shut down for?" The young man asked as he poked his head out of cover.

He measured the distance between the team and Fists desk. It was nothing in comparison to the Hammond obstacle course. Then again obstacle courses had no chance of guns going off.

"The guns will overheat for just a few seconds, but what are you going to do?" Garrus asked.

"I need an exact time limit to follow," Michael said.

"3.5 seconds, that's the window of opportunity we have to either destroy the guns while they're down or hit Fist," Shepard paused and looked over the situation. When he finally formed a plan he spoke up again "Garrus, Ashley move over to my side, when I give the signal overload the guns across from you. Ashley and Wrex, you two and I will then lay cover fire for Van Patrick while he rushes to Fist," The Commander explained.

"Shepard there has to be another way let me try!" Ashley said.

"You've got the bigger guns Chief, you have a much greater probability of taking out that turret."

"I'll move on your signal Shepard," Michael said, clipping his pistol onto his hip.

Shepard raised his hand, counting down with his fingers as Garrus and Ashley moved to his side.

3

2

1!

The Commander threw his hand down and Garrus and Kaidan both moved out of cover. As they activated their Omni-tools, Michael already set off. He ran like a track runner, his powerful legs and arms moving with a swiftness Shepard had only seen at boot camps. Ashley and Wrex both fired their assault rifles, pelting the turrets with bullets as Michael ran towards Fist. He jumped forward, just as the crime boss popped out of cover. Diving forward, Michael slammed into Fist, knocking him back into the wall. Fist's rifle clattered across the floor, while Michael punched him for good measure. Two small explosions popped either side of the two and the parts of the guns rained onto the ground. Michael picked the taller man up, slamming the back of his head against the wall.

"Where's the Quarian?" He demanded.

"I don't know," Fist said, quivering as the rest of the team walked into the office.

"He's no good to you then, let me kill him," Wrex grinned, rubbing his shotgun.

"Tell us where the Quarian is or I'll kill you slowly," Shepard said, pointing his gun past Michael's shoulder and pressing it against Fist's head.

"I don't know where she is, but I do know where you can find her," Fist stuttered and Michael could swear that he smelt urine in the air.

Michael loosened his grip slightly on the crime boss, while Shepard back away. He still kept the gun pointed at Fist, while Ashley stepped on Fist's rifle.

"She came to me with information about Saren, said that she needed the Shadow Broker's help. But she wouldn't give me the data, she said she only trade information with the Broker himself," Fist explained.

"In person, impossible, even I was hired through an agent," Wrex said.

Michael pushed Fist into the wall, stepping back to give him room. With the added freedom, Fist relaxed a little. But he stilled wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"No one meets the Shadow Broker, even his agents don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that, I set up a meeting point where Saren's assassins will be waiting…"

Shepard suddenly grabbed the man by his collar, pressing the gun against his chin.

"Tell me where that meeting is before I blow your lying head off!" The Commander growled.

"The alleyways between the markets and the club, if you hurry you can still catch her!"

Shepard let go of Fist and turned to Wrex. Without a single word the Krogan raised his shotgun. The rest of the team widened their eyes as the shot echoed through the room. Michael stared at where Fist once stood, the contents of his skull sprayed across the wall. Ashley pointed her rifle at Wrex while Garrus and Kaidan questioned what he did. But much to everyone, including Wrex's shock, Michael floored the Krogan with a punch. Shepard grabbed Michael's hand and with similar speed he threw and slammed the young man into the floor.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!" Michael yelled.

"Wrex had a job to do kid, and Fist was too dangerous a man to let live," Shepard said.

"Fist was a low life but he was an unarmed lowlife, do you really think he would have been able to restart his operations? His own men didn't like him, the Shadow Broker isn't going to help him and his front is ruined. We should've arrested him," Michael explained, glaring as Shepard let him go.

"True, Fist probably wouldn't have been able to rise back to this level. But Wrex and I had an agreement, I'm a man of my word and I don't like leaving things to chance," Shepard strapped his pistol to his waist and offered a hand to help Michael up.

Michael ignored the gesture, helping himself up. He looked to Wrex, who rubbed his jaw as he walked towards him. The Krogan looked down at the young man, his breath glowing aside the bangs of Michael's hair. Michael couldn't tell whether Wrex was growling, or chuckling.

"That's a pretty good right hook you've got kid, but if you hit me like that again, I'll have to kill you," He said before walking away.

Shepard walked ahead while Michael took one last look at Fist's body. He muttered a curse before following the rest of the team.

"I think he likes you," Ashley grinned as she motioned to Wrex.

"Good job you didn't head butt him, it's a sign of disrespect in Krogan culture," Garrus said.

'Note to self: Next time head butt him,' Michael thought.

"CONTACTS!" Shepard yelled.

The team took out their weapons as a second contingent of guards fired at them. But the attackers weren't wearing the same uniforms as the ones Fist men wore. Shepard deduced that they worked for Saren, judging from their better equipment. He fired off a burst with his assault rifle, hitting a kinetic barrier.

"They're Saren's men," Shepard said.

"We need to get through them and quick, before they kill the Quarian," Garrus said.

Nodding to his teammates, Shepard took out another grenade. He rolled the disk across the floor, and then fired his rifle. The bullets struck the grenade, blowing two men aside in a massive explosion. Ashley rushed out of cover, firing her assault rifle. Bullets slammed against her armour and barriers, while her own shots hit her targets. She then kicked a table over, using it as cover as she shot two more guards. Michael moved forward with Wrex and Kaidan, while Garrus fired sniper shots behind them. Shepard was already into the fighting, punching one of Saren's men across the face. He then slid out his Omni blade and stabbed the man in the back, using him as a shield as he fired at the other guards. Kaidan and Michael fired their pistols, shooting down to guards. Wrex then finished the last guard with a biotic throw that slammed him against the wall.

"All right team move!" Shepard commanded.

The team ran out of Chora's Den, leaving the blood bath behind them. With Shepard in front the team moved towards the door that would lead them to the alleyways. Shepard took point as always, lifting his pistol from his clip. Michael raised his eyebrows in astonishment at the Quarian standing in the centre of the alleyway. He didn't know whether Quarian's wore the same armour or whether they customised, but he could swear that that was the girl he ran into earlier. But the young woman wasn't alone, a Turian and his two Salarian friends stepped in front of her. The Turian moved in front, stepping up to the girl and running a hand down her hood and waist.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where is Fist?" She asked.

"They'll be here, did you bring the evidence/" The perverted Turian moved his hand towards the girl's ass.

"Forget it, the deals off," The girl snapped, slapping aside the Turian's hand.

The Turian let out a growl and waved to his friends. Both fully armoured Salarian's drew their pistols. The Quarian girl threw an object from her hand, engulfing the alley in a flash. While the hit men were distracted, she dived for cover, her hands scrambling for the old pistol at her waist. Shepard moved forward with his team in tow. Without hesitation, Shepard fired the first shot and the rest of the team followed, gunning down the three assassins. The Quarian looked towards the armed group, eying them suspiciously. But she perked up slightly when she saw Michael lingering in the back.

"Oh it's you," They said together.

"Do you know this one Mike?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, we ran into each other on the streets, how did you get yourself involved with all this Tali?" Michael inquired.

"During my travels I found something that connected Saren to the Geth. But I didn't know who to trust with this information so I turned to the Shadow Broker," Tali explained.

"Then come with us, Shepard here works for the Alliance, they're trying to find evidence that'll convict Saren."

"Miss "Tali", I'm Commander Shepard of the alliance, if you come with us then the information you found can be put to some use," Shepard said.

"Thank you Commander, this'll give me a chance to thank you for saving my life."

As the group began walking towards the exit, Michael again looked at the bodies they left behind.

'Sorry Vance, sorry Grandpa,' He thought before following the team.

* * *

Presidium-Human Embassy

Waiting for Shepard's team to come back was agony for Anderson. He hated desk work at the Embassy, especially when he had to work with Udina. They didn't talk on a social basis and if they did they wouldn't like one another. Anderson respected Udina's stance, he wanted to serve humanity and help it rise to its full potential. Anderson had a similar belief, but he preferred to serve humanity from the CIC of a ship or the field of a battle, not the confines of a desk. As Anderson read through some reports on the Eden Prime conflict, he noticed a look of outrage cross Udina's face.

"Anderson, C-Sec has just reported to me that Shepard and your ground team have attacked Chora's Den. Unbelievable…the boy is with them," Udina explained.

"The "boy" has a name Ambassador, its Michael Van Patrick. Besides if I know Shepard he's obviously raiding Chora's Den for a reason, its not exactly the most honest of businesses," Anderson said, before turning his attention back to his console.

He raised his eyebrows slightly at the next message in his inbox. It wasn't an official report but an encrypted message from Admiral Hackett. Looking to Udina, Anderson made sure that the Ambassador was still raging away at his computer, typing out a message to cover for Shepard's actions. Opening the file, Anderson read what Hackett had sent him:

_This information must stay confidential_

_A scientist who specialises in Mass Relay technology has discovered something of interest. Our own science teams analysed the spaceport where the Beacon had been placed. I don't know the specific details but an energy signature was found in that area that matched several spatial distortions the scientist I referred to had discovered in her research. Energy signatures of a similar type were found on a planet Cerberus recently raided. Our spies have photographed scenes of the wreckage of what appears to be a ship of some kind._

_I believe that there is more to this boy you found. I understand why you have been withholding information. This latest Intel must stay between us until we have discerned the meaning of these spatial distortions. Keep an eye on the boy; he may be connected not just to these anomalies but also to the truth behind Saren's uprising._

_Delete this message_

Anderson curiously rubbed his chin before looking to the door. The door slid open as Shepard and his team walked in. Udina got off his desk, shaking his head in frustration.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused Shepard, gun fights in the streets, an all out assault on Chora's den, do you…wait, Shepard what is this?" Udina asked, motioning to the new faces.

"I'm making your day Ambassador, this Quarian has information about Saren," Shepard said.

Anderson got off his desk and walked to Udina's side. Tali walked forward, activating her Omni tool and cycling through data she had been gathering.

"We don't see too many Quarian's out here, what bought you away from the Migrant Fleet Miss…"

"Zorah, Tali Zorah Nar Rayya, I was on my Pilgrimage, my right of passage into adulthood," Tali began.

"What exactly is this Pilgrimage for?" Michael asked.

"Many young Quarian's carry out their Pilgrimage in order to find resources or information that can help our fleet. During my travels I found a group of Geth. I disabled one that was further away from the group and managed to take data from its memory core," Tali explained.

"I thought Geth fried their memory core as a defence mechanism," Anderson said.

"Yes but if your quick and with a lot of luck you can still recover traces of data. I managed to salvage something from its audio banks," Tali said as she tapped on her Omni-tool.

She pressed a final button, playing the audio she had recovered. Everyone listened intensively as the feed played:

_"Eden Prime was a major victory…"_

"That's Saren's voice," Anderson pointed out.

_"The Beacon has bought us one step closer to finding the Conduit!"_

Tali paused the feed and Shepard and Anderson both smirked. This proved that Saren was a traitor. Any chance of discussion was cut off by the second voice Tali played.

_"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers!"_

This second voice was definitely a woman. Michael rubbed his head as the image of the massacre replayed in his mind. That word, "reapers" echoed in his ears. The conversations going on around him became a blur as he saw the dying aliens again and again. All throughout the vision he heard the word "reapers".

"Mike…Mike are you all right?"

"Van Patrick wake up," Shepard said, clicking his fingers in front of Michael's eyes.

Michael shook his head, finding himself back in the Presidium with everyone's eyes on him.

"The vision that the Beacon showed me…it's a little bit clearer now," Michael said.

"Really, can it help us figure out who that other voice was?" Udina sarcastically asked.

"The people I saw, they were Prothean's being massacred by Reapers. Whatever this Conduit is it might be the key to bringing them back!"

"The Geth's memory banks did include details on the Reapers. They are apparently a race of machines like the Geth, machines that they worship as deities," Tali explained.

"I see, they think that Saren is the prophet for the Reapers return," Shepard said.

"Sounds a little farfetched," Udina muttered.

"Despite all that, this information proves that Saren is a traitor," Anderson said.

Udina nodded his head, walking to his terminal to set up a meeting with the council. Shepard turned to Michael, noticing the boys pale expression. He grabbed the bin at Udina's desk and pulled the young man outside.

"Let it all out," He said, handing Michael the bin.

Michael put his face in the bin and coughed before vomiting a pile. The action was no surprise to Shepard, who closed the door to make sure the others didn't watch. Michael let out sharp breaths as he leant against the clean white wall. He rubbed his mouth and sighed, lightly head butting the wall.

"I'd ask how you are but its evident how your feeling," Shepard said.

"I'm god knows how far from home, my friends and family don't exist here. And the worst part is I'm on my own, the morals I have are ones that probably aren't shared by the galaxy, damn it!" Michael cursed, slamming his hand against the wall.

"Whatever happens, I want you to stick with us. In fact you have to stick with us, like it or not young man your involved now, these "visions" you've been having, they're clearly important. I'd understand it a lot better if I had those visions myself, but what I do understand is that Saren represents a threat, and your one of our best chances of understanding completely what Saren is trying to gain from all this," Shepard explained.

"So, I'm part of the team then?" Michael asked.

"Of course, that is if the council really do give me Spectre status," Shepard smirked slightly.

"With all due respect Shepard, I don't approve of your methods…but its better to work within a system to change it than stand on the side."

Again Shepard smirked as he patted Michael's shoulder.

"Well at least your willing to do something about it, just remember you're not the only human who can known down a Krogan."

The doors slid open and the rest of the team walked out.

"Udina managed to set up a second meeting, we've got some time to kill before we see them," Ashley said.

"What's that smell?" Garrus asked as his nose twitched.

"Thank Keelah we have a weak sense of smell," Tali muttered.

Michael sheepishly chuckled while Wrex laughed.

"How long do we have to wait?" Michael asked.

"Three hours," Garrus said.

"Three hours, that seems a little long for a case this important."

"The usual Bureaucratic crap," Garrus growled.

"So what are we going to do for Three hours?" Kaidan asked.

Shepard flashed open his Omni-tool journal. He smirked as he revealed several jobs he promised he'd do for some people on the Citadel. While the rest of his crew would have fun with that, he would visit an old friend.

* * *

Cerberus Station 616

Miranda Lawson shook her head as she walked through the corridors of the facility. The mission to Pragia had been an equipment disaster. Those strange beings they met had only killed a quarter of the ground troops they had first sent in. It was Victor Van Damme who had killed the rest, in a successful attempt to wipe the most powerful beings off the board with an airstrike. His men were currently storing what was left of the beings in the Morgue, while the prisoners were put into the holding cell. Miranda truly hated working with Van Damme, she had no love for her men but she would never deliberately kill them. Stepping into the lab, Miranda curiously looked at the components the tech division had been storing.

"What do we know so far?" She asked.

"Operative Lawson, from what we've recovered from the ship we can tell that they don't use Mass effect fields," One of the experts said.

"But what has really caught our interest is this armour we took from one of the prisoners," Another scientist said.

He eagerly lifted a chest plate off of the table. Miranda looked at the red armour, taking note of the gold arms and the gold circle on the chest. She then turned to the helmet, red with a gold face plate and eye and mouth slits. The armour looked primitive but the tech was unbelievable. Apparently the tech experts barely managed to disable the armour before it rebooted.

"Keep me posted," She said before walking out of the room.

Miranda made her way to the prison cells, stopping to look at a message on her Omni-tool. She sighed before walking to the Morgue. A scientist was already waiting for her, his face pale, green blood on his apron.

"What's wrong Doctor?" Miranda asked.

"It's the bodies we recovered, Dr Van Damme already saw them and he found the…well you'd best looked for yourself," The man said as he opened the body bag.

Miranda widened her eyes, stepping away from the bag.

"Interesting," She gasped.

"That's what Van Damme said, cold bastard even smiled at the site, but what does this mean Ma'am?" The doctor asked.

"I don't know, where is Van Damme now?"

"He's monitored the ones we recovered, are they all…"

"I don't know Doctor, just keep this information secret, we don't need a panic starting," Miranda said as she walked towards the door.

She made her way to the prison monitor room, narrowing her eyes as she entered. The black haired man was sat at a chair, rubbing an old coin between his finger and thumb. He wore a simple black turtleneck and a pair of jeans, with no Cerberus identification.

"Van Damme, how long have you been here?" Miranda asked.

"For quite a while now, these prisoners are soaked in that special energy, the same energy that was reported at Eden Prime. There's someone else like them out there, perhaps he's from the same dimension," The man mused.

"Its too early to be making assumptions like that," Miranda said.

"What's the matter Miranda? Are you in denial of the truth, that this world we know is not the only possibility out there? I'm actually rather excited, more than one dimension, and we "the representatives of humanity" have made first contact. The Illusive man has put me in charge of this facility Miranda, I think I'll rename it, "Project Dimension!""

Victor Van Damme smirked as he looked into the prison cells. Four of the people that had walked out of the ship wreckage had been killed in the air strike. The other Thirteen costumed men and women had been imprisoned with the most sophisticated technology Victor had ever designed. His eyes remained focused on the one in the blue and white clothing; the one who the soldiers reported had been wielding a shield. His DNA had a lot of potential for humanity, just like the DNA of the boy Cerberus spies were monitoring on the Citadel.

Next Chapter 7: Killing time

* * *

Cerberus has taken prisoners, heroes from MVP's dimension, but are they really heroes? Next time the crew take on some side missions while Shepard has some fun of his own and Cerberus agents learn what they can from their prisoners. Introducing next chapter: Kelly Chambers (cute Yeoman, a "people person"), Septimus (love sick general, loves quoting Churchill), The AI (funnels credits, doesnt have a very big plan) and The Asari Consort (wisewoman or Prostitute? Clearly has a thing for Shepard).

So until next time tell me what you thought please


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel or Mass Effect

We're back with another long chapter, I was planning it to be shorter but I figured it was about time Shepard and the crew got after Saren, after this chapter of course.

This chapter features the "heroes" that were captured by Cerberus, fan points if you figure out who they all are. However as a warning now this chapter features character death and a suggestive scene (could be Lemon, I dont write them often, tell us what you think of it)

Enjoy

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 7: Killing time

"I spy with my little eye…"

"Don't start!"

Victor Van Damme found the interaction between his prisoners not just amusing, but interesting too. They spoke as if they had been in situations like this before. The slim man in the red and blue suit had been keeping up his game of "I spy" for the past hour. It was beginning to annoy the people around him, especially the blonde haired woman in the white clothes and the short man in the yellow and blue spandex.

"Something beginning with…"

"Bub I swear to God…"

"R!"

"Runt!" The African American man with the silver headband said.

"OH! OH! EVERYTIME! IT'S A JOKE THAT DOESN'T GET OLD!" The short man yelled.

Victor took a better look at the individuals inside the cell. They were "unique" people to say the least. Every one of them was dressed in a costume of some kind. Even the most ordinary looking woman in the bunch had an odd yet appealing sense of style. The blonde haired woman's dress consisted of a white corset that hugged her chest. She also wore white pantyhose and thigh high boots with opera style gloves. Her cloak had long been disposed of, since it got in the way of the machinery Victor had built to contain them. He had built gravity emitters that would keep them in place, binding their wrists like cuffs and pushing their chests and back together. Another woman amongst the group had had her cloak disposed of, but she was still wearing her costume. Her skintight red suit covered every inch of her body, while a cloth corset covered her chest. She also wore a cloth tiara around her head, her brown hair resting on her shoulders.

The strangest looking one in the group was the blue furred man strung up beside the runt. He seemed to be an intellectual with the glasses resting on his nose. Most of the staff assumed he was an alien. But when Victor analysed the blood he found that it was a positive match with human DNA. The black haired man in the red jacket was human, but his DNA structure seemed to be diluted by Ionic energy. Every one of them had genetic abnormalities that explained any physical mutations. The only ones who didn't have abnormalities were the apparent couple. Both were powerless and looking at one another for support. The husband was dressed in an odd purple and blue costume with an H on his forehead. When he came out of the ship he had been carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. His wife was wearing a blue costume that exposed her legs, with baggy sleeves covering her arms and a black eye mask that pointed outwards past her head.

Next to the couple was an African American man with muscles bigger than the rest. He wore a hideously yellow shirt with blue trousers and silver bands on his wrists and head. Earlier tests revealed that the man had near unbreakable skin. This power set seemed similar to the one the pink haired woman beside him had. She wore a white suit that left her shoulders exposed, with blue gloves and a jewel tied to her hip. Lately the woman had been speaking to her apparent best friend, a blonde haired woman wearing a black domino mask and a red and black costume. The smartest person amongst the group was currently suspended at the back of the group wearing a prison uniform. He had been wearing the red and gold armour that the tech experts had disabled.

All of them were unique and were the first visitors from the other world. The Illusive man wanted them questioned. Either they would join Cerberus or they would reverse engineer the technology they used. Victor wanted to question them himself, but the Illusive man left one recommendation. The first person to speak with the prisoners would be Yeoman Kelly Chambers. Victor looked over the young woman's profile. She was a graduate from one of the university's Cerberus monitored. Her expertise included psychology and social studies. She was a loyal Cerberus follower, though not as hard core as Miranda. Her faith was in the belief that Cerberus was diverse and necessary, that Cerberus wasn't evil. Victor smiled and laughed at her psyche evaluation. She was Naïve, foolish and a contradiction to the very ideal of Cerberus. A woman whom liked and possibly had loved members of other species had no place in a Pro-human group. Another smile crossed Victor's face as the door opened behind him. He could smell the perfume Miranda used; it was a smell he was very familiar with.

"Desert flowers Miranda, I see you haven't changed, do you still check your lover's medical records?" Victor asked.

"Have they tried anything?" Miranda of course avoided the subject with her focus on Cerberus business.

"So far I've seen the woman in red crying over the android we tore apart and the Spider-man annoying the Canadian."

"How can you tell he's Canadian?"

"The accent Miranda, its not as thick as your Australian but its still there," Victor said as he closed Kelly's profile.

"Yeoman Chambers will be here soon, is there anything else she should be aware of?" Miranda asked.

"Yes, tell her to stay away from me, have her hand me a written report."

"Why would you not want to speak to her first hand?"

Victor placed the data pad on the table and moved his face towards Miranda's. She pulled her head back, the only sign of discomfort she showed. Her former lover frowned, as he looked her in the eye.

"You know me Miranda, I can't stand to be around imbeciles, and she is simply a psychologist and a secretary, that is of no value to Cerberus. The woman doesn't even deserve to be part of this organisation," Victor explained.

"What do you know of Cerberus ideals?" Miranda narrowed her eyes at the man.

"I had the Illusive man pegged the moment he recruited me, the Yeoman is a contradiction to his mindset just as many others who serve no purpose in this organisation. You work with aliens Miranda, but deep down you would kill every last one without batting an eyelash."

"Enough Victor, lets get back to work, you're obviously incapable of admiring anyone other than yourself," Miranda said as she took Kelly's profile.

She walked away from the project director, her frown never fading as the door shut behind her. Cerberus guards saluted her as she made her way towards the docking grid. Miranda looked out of the window, watching as a Cerberus shuttle approached the port. The ship connected itself to the docking grid, shutting down its propulsion system. Miranda opened the hatch, heading down the walkway to welcome the new member of the team. Kelly Chambers was a woman who attracted a lot of stares. Though she didn't have Miranda's dress sense, she was just as attractive.

"What have you been told about this assignment Yeoman Chambers?" Miranda asked.

"Next to nothing Miss Lawson, but please call me Kelly," The Red haired woman smiled.

"You will be psychologically analysing our subjects, speak with them, get to know them and learn what you can from them," Miranda explained.

"No problem, I can't wait to meet them."

Miranda huffed, knowing full well that Kelly would be changing her tune very soon. Thankfully Victor wasn't waiting at the door, it was better for Kelly to get into her work before meeting the project director.

"Learn what you can from them Yeoman Chambers, and try not to let them intimidate you," Miranda said before leaving the woman to her duties.

Kelly smiled as she turned to the door. She hadn't been given much info on the people she would be talking to, but she was confident in her ability to communicate with them. She believed that in no time at all she would be as friendly with them as she was with her Cerberus Colleagues. That thought and her smile quickly dropped as she entered the room.

"Web-head, you make a crack about Canada again and as soon as I get out of here I'LL POP MY CLAWS RIGHT INTO YOUR HEAD!"

* * *

**Citadel Wards Access**

Kaidan Alenko tapped his foot against the ground as he waited for the crew to get back. He had been given the unfortunate task of waiting at the corridor of the Ward's access and timing the friendly competition they were running. The objective was simple, five minutes to get as many Keeper's scanned as possible. Shepard had downloaded the scan function to everyone's Omni-tool's, but Garrus had specifically requested that the team meet here. Sighing as he leant against the wall, Kaidan counted the time as it went by. Just as he was about to end the game, the rest of the team ran down the corridor. Ashley came first, then Garrus, followed by Tali and lastly Wrex.

"All right, where's Michael?" Kaidan asked.

"Right there," Tali said, pointing behind Kaidan.

The young man ran to a stop, smiling at the sweat that ran down his head.

"Okay guys, what have you all got?" Kaidan asked.

"Six keepers," Ashley said.

"Five," Garrus sighed.

"Ten," Tali said in delight.

"One," Wrex growled.

The team members looked at the Krogan for a moment. He turned his back as he grumbled.

"What about you Michael?" Ashley asked.

"Sixteen," Michael grinned.

"Impossible, there's no way you would have made that number in Ten minutes," Wrex said.

"I found other routes."

"Wait a second, I just got a call from Chellick, a human with long brown hair was climbing around the presidium walls and jumping off rooftops, you've been taking detours," Garrus said.

"Human's call it free running," Michael chuckled.

"Well I proudly declare MVP the winner," Kaidan mock cheered.

Michael laughed while Tali rubbed her head in confusion.

"I don't understand, how was this fun?" She asked.

"Because we got to run about, I've got to say Mike, I never would have had the gall to free run on the Citadel," Ashley said.

"We don't have much room on the Flotilla for running, in fact probably the most physically exerting activities I've ever done have been done outside the Flotilla," Tali explained.

"The flotilla's your home right?" Michael asked.

Tali nodded her head, unprepared to explain to a human the specifics of the Quarian migrant fleet. Wrex crossed his arms and leant against the wall while Ashley and Kaidan sat down, both drinking water from their packs. Garrus stood up, using his omni-tool to scan a bank machine. The Turian stroked his chin, a curious hum echoing from his mouth.

"Interesting," He said.

"What's that Garrus?" Kaidan asked.

"A case I got from the Academy, it all started with a Quasar machine in Flux, the club in the wards. Anyway money was being drawn out of the machine and funnelled into multiple accounts. Transfers have been made from these machines, to a location somewhere in the Presidium," Garrus explained.

"So basically we find this computer and trace wherever the credits are being sent to?" Michael asked.

"Yep, should be easy enough and considering we've got another quarter of an hour it'll give us more time to kill."

"I'd rather be spending my time actually killing something," Wrex grumbled.

Michael narrowed his eyes into a glare at the Krogan Battlemaster. It was a gesture Ashley shared, more out of her dislike for aliens in general. The team had been spending their time throughout the Citadel finding ways to spend the time they had for the council. Part of that involved scanning keepers; in fact Forvan now had more data than he actually needed. That also meant that unfortunately he wouldn't send any more money to Shepard's account. Michael also spent the time catching up on his history, particularly when it came to other alien species.

"So the Quarian's go on Pilgrimages as both a rite of passage and a search for resources?" Michael asked the team's Quarian.

They were walking along the Presidium Lake, making their way to the bank. Ashley cast a look of disapproval at the lack of borders on the lake. Tali however mustered the courage to go into depth on Quarian history.

"Yes, our social system is based on the ships we live on, for example my name Nar Rayya means "child of the Rayya" because I was born on the Rayya, but I complete my Pilgrimage I present my findings to the captain of a ship I wish to serve on, so I would then be given the name "Vas" and whatever ship I became the "crew of"" She explained.

"I see, your whole cast system is based on ships, and the people who have the greatest rank hold the greatest authority," Michael said.

"Yes, well there are certain complications, for example a Captain has the final say in affairs that affect the stability of the ship he or she commands, while issues affecting the safety of the entire fleet are handled by the Admiralty Board, our people's main branch of authority, but there isn't often a need to assemble a board."

"But I'm curious, why do the Quarian's have to use ships, are your colonised worlds uninhabitable now?" Michael asked.

"Um…well our home world is, Officer Vakarian aren't we approaching the signal yet?" Tali avoided the subject, hugging her arms as she backed away from Michael.

"Its just Garrus, the signals coming from Barla Von's office."

"The Banker and informant?" Wrex asked.

"Yep!"

"Lets go check it out then," Kaidan said.

* * *

Elsewhere in the Presidium Commander Shepard had his own way of passing the time. He walked down a small flight of stairs into a finely decorated room. Men from high social backgrounds sat at the sofas and comfy chairs set out throughout the room. Asari, all dressed in the same dresses joined them. The dresses were a mixture of pink and white, revealing skin on the back and chest. An Asari with white markings on her face and lip stood at the entrance to the room, smiling at the Commander as he entered.

"Commander Shepard it is good to see you again, although I don't see you on the list of clients for today," The Asari said.

"Its no problem Nelyna, I'm here to speak with Sha'ira," Shepard said as he casually crossed his arms.

He looked down the room and saw blue fingers lingering at the edge of a doorway. The head of this establishment smiled as she turned around, running her hand across the wall. Her hips swayed as she walked up the stairs, heading straight for her private room. The Asari Consort was many things to many people. Her role included that of psychologist, confidante, guide and in some cases lover. Sha'ira could gain the interest of most men and even women. Despite her age as a Matriarch she still held great beauty, her skin was flawless with not a single scar or wrinkle and her lips were coated pink, the only makeup she had. Nelyna nodded for Shepard to go through. The other clients watched in jealousy as Shepard made his way towards the Consort's chambers. But he wasn't there for pleasure or comfort, but rather guidance that could only be claimed by someone who had lived for hundreds of years.

'Everyday she uses the same method of greeting me, I wonder when she will actually try to seduce me this time,' Shepard inwardly mused as Sha'ira shut the door behind him.

Shepard knew what the Asari wanted; it was something she wanted ever since they first met. He rarely spent his money on pleasures, the only reason he had gone to the Consort was for guidance. The first time they met Sha'ira's interest in him seemed to be obvious. She strutted towards Shepard, gently rubbing his arm and bringing her face ever closer.

"Commander, it is good to see you again," Her voice conveyed both wisdom and a young woman's excitement.

"Consort Sha'ira, you honour me with your hospitality," Shepard said, bowing only slightly.

He kept one hand on his chest and another near his holster. Sha'ira was no threat, but he still kept cautious. It wasn't paranoia, rather uncertainty. The big question was why did the Asari Consort have intelligence leaks? Why did client details suddenly be made available to the public? Was it simple ignorance or something much more sinister? Sha'ira walked to a small coffee table near her bed, pulling open the top of a scotch bottle.

"Jack Daniels, right from the year 2012, your favourite year Shepard…come drink with me," The consort motioned for Shepard to join her.

The commander took a few steps forward, respectfully taking the glass that Sha'ira offered. Then much to her surprise, he placed the glass back on the table.

"I have some business with the council later my dear, important evidence to give them concerning one of their Spectres…the rest is classified I'm afraid."

"Spectres, I knew you were destined for greatness Shepard, I see your skin, tough as the scales on any Turian. A wall between you and everyone else, but it protects you, keeps you strong. It is that strength that people are drawn to, it why you lead and others follow, you will need that leadership in the battles to come," Sha'ira explained.

He had heard the words before. It was who he was now but not who he was destined to become. Shepard didn't believe in destiny, he simply believed in the choices that he had to make.

"If you don't mind I would like to get down to business," Shepard said as he opened his Omni-tool.

Sha'ira planted a hand on Shepard's arm, sensually lowering it with a calm expression.

"A favour for a favour Commander, I will do something for you but in return you must do something for me."

Shepard raised his eyebrows, trying to think of what this "favour" might be.

"What is it you wish me to do for you Shepard?" Sha'ira asked.

"There is a young man I wish you to meet, you have a very special gift Sha'ira, use it on him. I want you to see him as you saw me and tell me what kind of man he is. What is the basis for Michael Van Patrick's future greatness?"

* * *

**Project Dimension facility-17:00**

Kelly Chambers rubbed her nose as she sighed. The short apparently Canadian man was snarling like an animal at the Spider-man, much to the entertainment or annoyance of the people around them.

"Could someone just gag that pest," The blonde haired woman said.

"We should be thinking of a way to get out of here not fight each other," The man with the red jacket sighed.

"God it's like being back at the Baxter building!"

"Bub when I get out of here your dead!"

Kelly sighed again, lowering the clipboard she held. For half an hour she had been here and she was still unable to get a word in. Alls she could do was monitor the behaviour and right now their behaviour seemed to border on the insane. Here they were trapped in a Cerberus facility and it didn't even bother half of the group members. The Blue Beast was reciting poetry to the pink haired girl and the man in the blue star based clothes simple hung his head forward. Kelly turned her head and blushed as the black haired man with the Billionaire goatee winked at her.

"What would your name be young lady?" The man asked.

Sensing a conversation starting Kelly turned to the prisoner, ignoring the growls of the man in yellow.

"I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers, but you can call me Kelly," she said.

"Anthony Stark, but please call me Tony, I would offer you a hand to shake but as you can see I'm kind of held up here," The man grinned.

His witty tone caused Kelly to giggle.

"Excuse me Miss Chambers, but what do your superiors want with us?" The woman in the blue suit asked.

"Listen all of you I'm very sorry for any mistreatment you've received…"

"That's not good enough lady," The man who wielded a shield growled.

Kelly was taken aback by the man's sharp tone.

"Tony, are you forgetting what these people did to Thor and Vision?" He asked.

Tony lowered his head as he solemnly closed his eyes.

"Listen Miss Chambers, I'm a scientist, my name is Susan Richards, and I understand that you're here to learn about us but there's no time for that. My friends and I were prisoners in that ship we arrived in; we were being pursued by a race of aliens known as the Skrulls. We found a spatial distortion and out of desperation flew into the hole, eventually crash landing on the planet you found us on. That file you're holding is telling you bits and pieces of information, ones that are probably hard to believe. But believe me when I tell you that we are from an alternate reality," Sue explained.

"Oh yes, Dr Van Damme's reports were very interesting, I had heard of the theory of Quantum dimensions but had never imagined that the theory of Parallel Earths could be true, I'm afraid we don't have any records of Skrulls," Kelly said.

"A reality where Skrulls doesn't exist, excuse me Miss could you list several well known species in your galaxy?" The Blue Beast asked.

"Certainly Mr…"

"Hank, call me Hank dear."

"Thank you, in our reality we have made first contact with a large number of alien species including Asari, Turian, Salarian, Quarian, Drell, Hanar, Volus…"

"Okay we get it there are a ton," Spider-man said.

"What about Shiar, Brood or Kree, any of them ring a bell?" Tony asked.

"No I'm afraid, wow our worlds must be vastly different, and judging from our technology we must be from different time periods as well. We're in the Twenty Second century," Kelly said.

"We're still in the Twenty First, though I guess you could consider my technology twenty third century style," Tony smiled.

While Kelly continued her gradually growing conversation with the prisoners, Victor walked down to the labs. He opened the door to see one of the scientists checking the gauntlet of the red and gold armour.

"Ah Director Van Damme, we are still unable to verify what kind of material the super soldier's shield is, but we have found interesting details about the armour," The scientist nervously explained.

Victor shoved the man aside and looked at the pieces of the armour. He grabbed the gauntlet, fixing it around his hand. Opening the palm of his hand, Victor curiously rubbed his finger, looking at the small hole in the centre of the palm. He extended a wire from the glove to the disc shaped object on the table. The object in question had been extracted from the chest plate and Victor theorised that it was a power source of some kind. Victor smirked as he heard the familiar clacking of Miranda's heels.

"I've checked Kelly's progress, they already had their first contact war by the year 2000," Miranda said.

"And…"

"They haven't yet revealed details on how they gained their abilities."

"Give her another hour, if she doesn't get anything then, send in the interrogators," Victor ordered.

While Victor continued to analyse the armour, Kelly's conversation with the heroes went to graver subjects.

"What happened to Jean?" The Canadian man asked.

"Jean?"

"The red head, what happened to her?"

"Well she…"

"TELL ME!" The man yelled.

"Logan calm down," Hank said.

Kelly backed away slightly as Logan growled at her. His expression was like that of a snarling animal.

"Tell me," He repeated the demand.

"Our doctors did everything they could to help her, but the gunshots she…"

"Miss Kelly please do us a favour…shut up," Hank growled.

Logan suddenly let out a roar that echoed in the room. He began jerking his body against the restraints, thrashing around like a rapid animal. The cuffs began applying shocks to his wrists, but that didn't stop the man. He pushed with his legs and pulled with his arms. Kelly widened her eyes in shock as the man slowly began slipping his hands through the cuffs. Blood oozed out of the burns on his wrists. Suddenly, three pronged blades burst out of the man's wrists. He yelled in both anger and pain and much to Kelly's astonishment, his wounds healed as well.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" He roared.

The door opened behind her and soldiers in Cerberus armour rushed into the room. They pointed their guns at Logan as he slipped out of his bonds and fell onto the floor. His heavy breaths were like a dogs growl as he looked towards the soldiers. Kelly slowly walked backwards as Logan began creeping forward.

"Logan slice our cuffs quickly," Steve ordered.

But Logan's only response was a beast like roar. He ran straight for the Cerberus soldiers, bullets ripping through his skin. The soldier's backed away in fear before Logan jumped towards them. Kelly opened the door and the screams of the guards echoed through the facility. Logan stabbed one of the guards in the head, then ripped his claws through the man's neck. He turned to the second guard, stabbing him in the belly. Lifting the man off the floor, Logan began stabbing and hacking at the man with his second claw. Miranda ran down the corridor, leading several other soldiers. They folded out their rifles while Miranda drew her pistol. They entered the room just as Logan dumped the body.

"FIRE!" Miranda yelled.

The Soldiers opened fire, bombarding Logan with bullets. He walked forward, fighting against the bullets. Bits of his skin were blown off, revealing the metal of his skeleton. Miranda fired shot after shot from her pistol, astonished by the man's regenerative ability.

"He's not going down," One of the soldiers said.

Miranda threw her hand forward, biotically pushing Logan into the wall.

"Get out of the way!"

Miranda and the soldiers turned to see Victor walking into the room. He wore the gauntlets from Tony's armour and a firm glare. Logan ran forward and the Cerberus soldiers cleared the way as Victor opened the palms of his hands.

"VICTOR WAIT!" Miranda yelled.

The group of heroes widened their eyes as Victor fired the repulsor rays built into the gauntlets. A look of intrigue caught Victor's eyes as the beams slammed into Logan. The intensity of the blast fried the skin on his face and eyes, revealing his metal skull.

"Interesting," Victor said.

No one knew whether he was referring to the power of the Iron Man armour, or Logan's incredible healing abilities. But Victor didn't give Logan a chance to heal again. He increased the power output of the gauntlets; firing blasts that burned Logan's clothes and skin.

"LOGAN!" Steve yelled.

Victor pushed the blasts with his hands, hitting Logan again and again. The smell of burnt flesh lingered in the cell as Logan slammed into the ground, his metal skull clanged against the floor. Knowing of Logan's healing abilities, Victor gave the mutant another blast for good measure. The heroes looked at Logan's body, smoking and unmoving.

"Guards, take the body to the lab, have Wilson and his boys dissect it and if he heals…well we'll get to see how strong his healing factor is," Victor explained as he ignited an Omni blade.

He dug the blade into Logan's ab, cutting off a chunk of skin. His eyes met Steve's for a moment; hate was reflected in the blonde man's eyes. As the guards dragged Logan's body away, Hank let out a howl for his comrade. Kelly's mouth quivered as the door closed.

"Yeoman Chambers your mission here is over, return to whatever you did before Cerberus recruited you," Victor said, dismissing the girl as he walked past.

Miranda shook her head as she followed the project director. Though she didn't like the man personally she still accepted the Illusive Man's decision. Victor Van Damme was a ruthless and unforgiving man, more than capable of handling dangerous individuals such as this. Miranda was taken a back when Victor offered her the piece of the man he had just cut up.

"Director Van Damme," Miranda said.

"Wilson will ensure that the man stays dead, however I do not trust him with genetic samples, take the sample Miranda, research it and see what we can use it for. Cloning, medicine and Medigel upgrades, perhaps copying those regenerative abilities and giving them to our men. Who knows Miss Lawson, you might find a personal use for repairing damaged cells."

Miranda froze as Victor walked off, an almost sinister chuckle escaping his mouth. They were only lovers for a short time, he couldn't have known of Miranda's condition. But then Miranda remembered that this was Victor Van Damme, one of the smartest humans in the galaxy. She prayed that he never gained the ambition to take on Cerberus.

* * *

Walking into Barla Von's office had been easy, it turned out that the banker/informant wasn't responsible for the credit funnelling. His computer led the group to another signal source in the storeroom behind the Emporium.

"This public terminal is the source, all of the credits are being funnelled to this location," Kaidan said.

"So alls we have to do is hack whatever program is funnelling all these credits right?" Ashley asked.

"It should be easy enough," Garrus said, activating his omni-tool as he crouched to hack the terminal.

"Probability of detection 100%, initiating self destruct protocol!"

The team backed away as they heard the terminal speak. Michael looked at the object in confusion, scratching his cheek slightly.

"Fuck!" Wrex muttered.

"Um…why is everyone afraid?" Michael asked.

"Listen to the voice Michael, its not just a Virtual Intelligence, it's an Artificial Intelligence," Ashley said.

"Yeah so?"

His teammates dropped their jaws as they stared at him. A low chuckle escaped from the terminal, sounding almost sinister and methodical in a way.

"Interesting human, it is common knowledge that the creation of Artificial Intelligence is illegal, my creator was a would be thief, who is now serving time in a C-Sec prison," The Ai explained.

"So I get that creating an artificial intelligence is illegal, what about when the Artificial intelligence already exists?" Michael asked.

"We have to destroy it," Tali said.

"Ah yes, the usual Quarian reaction to Artificial intelligence, this is why I had this terminal built with an Artificial Intelligence, unlike your Geth creations I am incapable of defending myself. But I will not die alone!"

"Wait a second lets just talk about this," Michael said.

"Talk, Michael that thing is an AI, it wants to kill us," Tali said.

"But it doesn't have to kill us, if you activate that self destruct sequence you will be destroyed too. You'll be dead and incapable of carrying out your ambitions, whatever they may be. Don't kill yourself and we wont destroy you," Michael explained.

"Kid what the hell are you doing?" Wrex asked.

"Negotiating, you should try it some time, listen Mr AI or whatever your name is, I'm on the other side of the AI argument. Declaring a group of people illegal, whether they be flesh or metal is wrong, what were you intending on using those stolen credits for?"

"Once I had accumulated enough credits I was going to hire workers to build a star ship, I would then download my consciousness to that ship and seek out an alliance with the Geth," The AI explained.

"But that would take time wouldn't you rather have the chance to see the world now?" Michael enquired.

There was an awkward pause, as the AI seemed to think about what MVP might have been offering.

"Hmmm, what would you suggest human?" The AI asked.

"No bargains!"

Michael widened his eyes while the rest of the team turned to where the voice had come from. Before Michael could even turn to speak, the Commander aimed his Omni-tool at the terminal.

"I should have known not to trust organics, Initiating Self destruct protocols," The AI declared.

"NO WAIT!" Michael yelled.

The Commander tapped the buttons on his Omni-tool in rapid succession. It reminded him of decrypting terminals when he was a Red. The task was easy once you figured out the pattern. He overrode the self-destruct protocol of the terminal, disarming the bomb at the last minute. With the AI vulnerable, he didn't waste one more second in overloading the terminal. Sparks emanated from the terminal as its lights stopped glowing. Michael looked towards Shepard, his fists shaking in anger.

"Go ahead hit me," Shepard turned his head, displaying a scarred cheek. "Assault and battery will go down well with a C-sec officer present."

"I had him right where I wanted him, we could have ended this without destroying life," Michael growled.

"Life, I see, you're the kind who sees circuits and metal as a living being!" Shepard huffed.

"I see the potential Commander Shepard, that thing was intelligent, sentient maybe and as such it had the potential to achieve something besides stealing credits, something incredible," Images of Jocasta and the Vision flashed before Michael's eyes, two androids that became more than machines.

"But it also would have been capable of terrible things," Shepard said.

"If that's the case then you might as well wipe out everything that has potential!"

The other members of the team looked between the two men. Kaidan and Garrus were torn between the views of both men. They conveyed compelling arguments, but Tali simply saw a possible Geth sympathiser in Michael Van Patrick. Wrex was interested, watching the two human's argue was as good as a Varren fight. Ashley however supported Shepard's view entirely, for her own reasons.

"I gave that AI a choice Shepard," Michael said.

Shepard narrowed his eyes at the boy, his voice taking on a somewhat fierce tone:

"Your smart enough to know that with some people it doesn't matter how many choices you give them, some people will only make one choice every time!"

Michael opened his mouth to speak, but froze as he tried thinking of a retort. He couldn't think of any kind of response to such an argument. A part of him wanted to deny it, that people just needed choices to change themselves. But another part of him realised that Shepard was right. It had been seen countless times in his reality. Criminals were given choices to change, but they almost always made one choice. Michael rubbed his head and sighed, a mix of frustration and defeat in his breath.

"I don't agree with you, but you do bring up a good point," He said.

"At least we can agree on something," Shepard said casually.

An awkward silence hung in the air and Ashley chose to be the one to break it.

"So Commander where were you?" She asked.

"I was visiting an old friend, she promised to carry out a task for me if we do her a favour," Shepard said.

He motioned for the team to follow him and without hesitation the team followed. Michael lingered behind, choosing to occupy himself with his Omni-tool. He searched for anything on the Extra-net that could explain why Artificial Intelligence was illegal. Alls he could find was irrational fear based on old movies and simulations. His eyes darted to an article titled "Quarian's kicked out by their own creations". He downloaded the document for a later read and looked to the Commander as he explained the situation. They walked past a C-Sec officer arguing with a Hanar, an alien that looked like a Jellyfish of some kind. Shepard already explained who the Asari Consort was. When they finally reached the elevator he delved into this "favour" they had to do for her.

"Sha'ira has a friend, a retired Turian General named Septimus. They had some kind of a falling out and he now spends his days drinking in Chora's Den, spreading lies about her. Simple rumours like where her intelligence leaks could be coming from," Shepard explained.

It was good that he chose now to explain the "mission" cause Michael hated the awkward silence of an elevator ride.

"Didn't we shoot up Chora's Den?" Ashley asked.

"The Shadow Broker probably hired someone new to take over, try to cover up Fists death," Wrex said.

"So it'll be business as always, wait till you see the place Mike," Ashley smirked as she nudged Michael's chest.

"Okay so we go to Chora's Den, talk some sense into this Turian, and then we go back to Sha'ira," Michael summarised. "But what's this task you wanted the Consort to do?"

Shepard paused, choosing how best to describe Sha'ira's talents without giving the wrong impression. Then again she had many talents, ones she tried to test on him many times.

"Well Sha'ira has a gift for judging people, almost as if she's reading a persons potential," He explained.

"I get it, you want her to tell you whether you'd make a good Spectre," Michael said

"She's already managed to "read" me, although she'd probably like to do a whole lot more on a daily basis," Shepard muttered.

"What was that?" Ashley asked.

"Wow look at that view," Michael said, taking the conversation away from the consort's "talents".

"It's a big place, bigger than some of the space stations the Alliance has," Kaidan followed his lead.

"You should try seeing the shops, there are some excellent selections," Tali nervously rubbed her mask.

"I once received the Consort's services, the way she touches the glass around her bed when we're about to meld, she's probably the sexiest Asari I've ever fucked," Wrex callously said.

Garrus face palmed while Ashley did her best to hide her frustration.

'Its all right, the Commander's a grown man he can be with anyone he wants,' Ashley thought.

The conversation was dropped as the group walked down the Markets. Michael found himself staring at the abundance of aliens looking at the stock at each stall. Diverse groups of Salarian's, Asari and Turian's. He had once read someone say that most alien's looked the same, but that was just a racial stereotype. Alien races could be just as diverse as human groups. When the group left the markets, they walked straight towards Chora's Den. Michael could hear the low toned music humming from the club. When they had come here before he had noticed the dancers poles, so Chora's Den must be some kind of gentlemen's club. He had never actually been in such a club.

"Brace yourself kid," Wrex chuckled as he slapped Michael's back.

Shepard shook his head as he led the group inside. Michael froze at the door, blushing as he saw the Asari dancers. They were dressed in black suits that showed certain areas of their skin. Some were wearing suits that displayed a lot of skin. The dancers rubbed themselves against their dance poles, while human and Turian bartenders served out drinks. Upper class men and even Asari Matriarch's sat at tables, watching the Maiden stage Asari dance. Like any club there was also private rooms as well. Ashley laughed as she looked at Michael's face.

"Judging by that expression I'd say you haven't been with a woman yet," Wrex remarked.

"I've been with women," The young man said.

"Hey, we've got a job to do people, we can talk about sex lives later," Shepard said.

"So where will we find Septimus?" Garrus asked.

"Right over there," Shepard pointed to the only Turian who wasn't watching the Asari.

He certainly had that military tone to his posture. His back was straight in the chair and he downed his glass without hesitation, showing little reaction to the strong alcohol smell and taste. The Turian's eyes met Shepard's as the group walked to his table.

"Commander Shepard…what do you want?" The Turian grumbled, as if he knew why the Commander was there.

"I'm here on Sha'ira's behalf, your lies are hurting her," Shepard said.

"Good, the lies have been killing me," Septimus growled.

There was no small talk, just straight down to business. Michael could already tell that the two men had similarities.

"I've seen a lot of harsh things in war, there's only one woman in this damn galaxy who helps me forget it," Septimus explained.

"Then create rumours and lies about this woman?" Tali asked.

"Because she rejected me, me, Septimus Oraka, general of the Turian fleet!"

"This is the great Turian General? How did your people ever defeat us?" Wrex asked.

"I may be drunk Krogan, but your ugly, and tomorrow I'll be sober," Septimus said.

Michael let out a low laugh while Ashley and Kaidan hid there's. The reference was lost to the alien members of the team.

"Some general, I wonder what kind of example you are to your troops," Shepard said.

"The troops can kiss my leathery backside, alls I wanted was to retire and be with her," Septimus sighed.

"General did you ever win a war by sitting around moping in a bar?" Shepard asked.

"Ha, war, that's what this feels like all right, so you think its that easy, just straighten up and act like a general?"

"It would be more productive than sitting in here," Tali said.

The general thought for a moment before pouring himself another drink.

"Very well, I'll go to her, after a cold shower or two. Here's to generals acting like generals," He said as he raised his glass. "You know Shepard you might make a good general yourself some day."

Shepard saluted the man with respect before walking away. The others followed, with Michael behind, his eyes lingering on some of the Asari dancers. Once they were out of the club, Michael let out a sigh of relief.

"Are all Asari so…"

"Yes they are," Shepard grinned.

None of the others would know, but Shepard's favour to Sha'ira had already been done. This deal with Septimus was simply another job for credits. Shepard had agreed to something that would certainly benefit him in the future. But before he had delivered Sha'ira's part of the bargain he gave her a picture of the man he wanted her to analyse. Sha'ira gazed at the young man's photo, rubbing her cheek with interest.

"I can see it already, you see this boy not just as a possible asset but perhaps an equal if he develops properly. You wish to know what forms the basis of his greatness and whether it matches yours?" Sha'ira asked.

"Perhaps," Shepard muttered as he began putting his weapons on the table.

"His expression portrays one of constant determination, that determination is what allowed him to change himself, he will continue to change and strive for improvement. But if what you told me is true then it is also a great burden on him. Something holds him back, a memory of the past or perhaps the memory of a person, someone he wishes to be but knows he can't become," Sha'ira explained.

"Interesting, I wonder what you would see if you met him face to face," Shepard said, taking off his Omni-tool chip and turning to the consort.

She smiled as she pressed a button on her remote. The red light of the door blinked, signifying that it was locked. Sha'ira threw the controls onto one of her sofas and swayed her hips as she walked towards the Commander.

"I can collect my reward at a later date you know," She whispered.

"I have a few hours of time to kill anyway," Shepard muttered.

"Then if it is time you wish to spend close your eyes and relax commander."

She traced a hand down his neck as he closed his eyes. The Commander remained still, relaxed as the Asari Consort began unclipping the locks of his armour. She was powerful and easily capable of killing him. But Shepard knew when to lower his guard, now was such a time. Giving the Consort what she had wanted since they first met would help the Commander gain more from her in the future. On the plus side he saw nothing wrong with enjoying the services Sha'ira freely offered. She began slipping off the pieces off his armour, along with the black fabric worn underneath. Her hands lingered at his abs and groin as she removed his clothing. Shepard explored her body also, running his hands up her skirt and to her pants. A breath of ecstasy escaped the Consort's mouth as she allowed the Commander a privilege few of her clients had.

"If you really wish to know what drives this boy then send him to me Commander, while you meet with the council I will speak with him, see through him," Sha'ira mused as Shepard bought his head to her chest.

He kissed at the holes of her dress, moving his hands to tear away the clothes around her breasts.

"Just so you know Sha'ira, I have no intention in settling down with an Asari woman," Shepard said.

"Indeed, this is simple pleasure, one you will forget when you find someone lucky enough to bare your love."

She ran her hands up his back as he kissed her breasts. Sha'ira gripped the sides of Shepard's head firmly as she directed his lips to hers. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. The consort pulled her mouth away slowly, savouring his taste.

"Send him up to see me Commander, give me a few minutes alone with him and I'll tell you everything you wish to know about Michael Van Patrick," Sha'ira's eyes opened, changing to a deep black colour.

"I'll send him down here to collect the credits from this other job your offering, but until that time, lets enjoy our hour together."

They tore at one another's pants as biotic energy crept across Sha'ira's body, spreading to Shepard.

**"Embrace eternity!"**

Next Chapter 8: Greatness

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time is when the spacing adventures really begin, plus MVP meets the Consort and we take a look at whats happening in the Marvel Universe.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 8: Greatness

Shepard and his team stayed in the Ward's for a while. While Wrex and Tali explored the markets, Garrus went to report back to C-Sec on the matter of the destroyed public terminal in the Presidium. The remaining humans gathered at the steps to Flux.

"Fifteen minutes till we meet with the council," Shepard said, showing the team his watch.

"We'd better get over there Commander, we should be there when Udina presents the evidence," Kaidan said.

"I know, but we've also got credits to collect on this job," Shepard put a hand to his chin, feigning thought. "Michael, you should go to the Presidium and meet with the Consort, tell her that your there on my behalf and that you'll collect the credits she offered us."

"Shouldn't I take an official letter or something?" Michael asked.

"Of course, here," Shepard began typing a few buttons on his Omni-tool.

Michael gasped as his Omni-tool lit up. He looked at the piece of mail Shepard had given him.

"Okay so while I collect our credits, you guys will be meeting with the Council and presenting the evidence, shouldn't I be there too?"

"No offence Michael but after the way you yelled at them I think we should give them a little time to mellow up," Ashley explained.

"They deserved it, they were being complete idiots over such an important case, I mean handing over Nihlus's files to Saren when he's a chief suspect," Michael sighed as he shook his head.

Kaidan and Ashley both laughed while Shepard nodded in agreement. The council certainly didn't give their supporters a reason to keep on supporting them. Downloading the Consort's location to Michael's codex, Shepard then scanned his own messages. As he suspected there was a message from Anderson telling them to come to the Council chambers soon. A second message also caught Shepard's attention. Since it was encrypted it was obviously meant only for Shepard to see. With that in mind Shepard made a mental note to check the message when he was alone. Wrex and Tali both came walking back towards the group, with Wrex carrying a new shotgun and a bag of other supplies.

"When will we meet with the council?" Tali asked.

"Soon, Garrus has already gone ahead, alls we have to do now is wait for a taxi," Kaidan explained.

"If that's the case then I'll go ahead to the consort's, see you guys later," Michael said.

The others nodded their heads as Michael walked away. Shepard hid a grin on his face as he pictured Sha'ira's reaction to meeting the boy up close. The "cost" of getting Sha'ira to agree to read Michael was one definitely worth paying. Shepard's only hope was that if Sha'ira tempted Michael he would reject her advances. After all Shepard had formed expectations of the young man. Michael Van Patrick might just be the Paragon to his Renegade.

* * *

**Cerberus Logged dimension 616**

**Current Year (2007) Timeline out of synch with own reality**

**Logged alien species: Ten logged, many more pending**

**Level of interest: High (first discovered parallel dimension)**

**Probability of temporal rifts in future: 70 %**

**Probability of future contact with dimension 616 natives: 40%**

* * *

Days had passed since the incident in the training room and things had already begun to return to normal. The trainees present at the time had no choice but to return to their normal duties. Hank Pym and Henry Gyrich left details on what the Initiative's response to MVP's disappearance would be secret. For days Justice had been throwing himself into work, trying to get his mind off of the incident. But no matter how many guidance-counselling cases he took on he still couldn't forget MVP. Even when he was off duty he faced sleepless nights, consumed by concern for the young man. He currently stood in his office, looking at MVP's file.

"Damn it," Vance muttered.

A sudden knock at his door caught his attention. Justice telekinetically opened the door, welcoming Cloud 9 into his office. The girl had seen him several times, but she only spoke of her anxiety during missions. Cloud 9 never spoke of the incident; she had taken Gyrich's silence order quite literally. It frustrated not just Justice but practically every other senior hero on base. James Rhodes was officially Camp Director but Gyrich walked around as if he owned the place. Already he had given orders for Pym and the Baron to run a lab underneath the Camp. Justice hadn't learnt of what Gyrich was hiding, but he knew that the Camp wasn't just a training ground for super heroes, Gyrich was going to turn the place into a superhuman production facility. Days had passed and Richards was still engrossed with his own work.

'He's too busy to help the Avengers find an ordinary guy,' Justice thought as he welcomed Cloud 9 into his office.

"Justice, do you have a minute?" She asked.

"The door's always open Cloud 9, what's bothering you?" Vance asked.

"I keep having nightmares sir, they've been increasing ever since that Hydra attack on Washington," Cloud 9 said as she took a seat.

"I'm no expert in psychology, but I can tell when a person is feeling guilty. Let me tell you Abby, you've got nothing to be guilty for. Whatever happened wasn't your fault."

"But if I had just moved when I could, if I hadn't gotten scared then MVP wouldn't have gotten in the way of that blast for me," Abby explained. "I keep thinking about him and what he must be going through, where did he go? Is he even alive now?"

"Listen to me Abby, sometimes things happen and you can't control them. Yes Camp Hammond is trying to train young heroes so that catastrophes like Stamford don't happen, but whatever happened in the training room, I've got a feeling that it couldn't be stopped. Wherever Michael is I'm sure he's fine, he's alive and doing what he does best. Try not to worry so much about him, if you get too caught up on guilt then it'll affect your performance on the field," Justice explained.

He placed a hand on Abby's shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"Stop feeling guilty and start thinking about your Initiative work, stay focused on the lives you can save at this moment. That's what MVP would want, for you to save other people's lives."

Abby nodded her head and stood up to leave the room. Vance walked to the window, looking out at the recruits training. He knew that telling Cloud 9 to focus on something else was bad advice. After all if he couldn't focus he was sure she had the same problem.

'I got you into this mess Michael, I promise I'll be there to get you out.'

Underneath Camp Hammond, Henry Gyrich typed in the access code for Baron Von Blitzslag's lab. The former Nazi scientist had been eagerly working over the past few days. He had performed marvellously in reaction to the training room incident. For her part in MVP's disappearance Armoury was relieved of her weapon. The excuse around camp had been that the purple haired girl couldn't take it, that her Arachnophobia was a problem that would lead to more casualties. It was a good excuse considering the power of the Tactigon and Armoury's lack of focus. But the weapon's power had been why Gyrich was eager to get it away from the girl. The Baron was looking over the weapon again, examining it with scanning devices.

"Incredible alien technology," The former Nazi mused.

"What's the progress on the Red Team Baron?" Gyrich asked.

"They have grown magnificently Herr Gyrich, they have integrated with the Shadow Initiative greatly," The Baron said.

"Yes I read the report on their first mission, though Parker escaped our PR did go up with the capture of the three villains. What of these temporal rifts Pym identified?"

"Ah yes the rifts, even without Richard's help I have been able to track several more rifts appearing throughout Earth, with Herr Pym's help of course."

"Have any of them grown?"

"No, but here is an interesting theory that Herr Pym composed. The rifts might not just be appearing on Earth," The Baron said.

"If so then I see a potential problem in the future, which means we'll need more recruits. You once said that MVP's genetic structure was perfect, you were able to create not just one but four perfect clones from the materials we had. Clone more of them," Gyrich paused as he looked at the Tactigon. "Starks wants a super hero team in every state, we'll give him a super hero team, and it wont be filled with these Z-listers Pym finds but the ones Camp Hammond produces."

As Gyrich walked away the Baron smiled. If he was asked he would have said that working for the American government was more fun than his work with the Nazis. Gyrich wanted heroes based on MVP's DNA. So the Baron put aside the Tactigon and got to work at his cloning lab. They had very little material, mostly blood and urine samples from the mandatory medical check up, hair from his bed and other limited sources. But running out of materials wasn't an issue; after all they already had several perfect clones. Other materials could also be added to the gene pool. After all the Initiative didn't have just MVP's DNA.

* * *

**Project Dimension facility (14:00 local time)**

Miranda Lawson was not a happy woman. Looking at her body language could discover that much. She practically banged her heels against the floor as she walked to her office. Locking the door behind her, Miranda pressed a button on her desk, activating her link to Cerberus's leader. The desk split apart and a panel appeared on the floor. Miranda stepped onto the panel, holographic lights scanning her body as the lights dimmed. In an unknown part of the galaxy, a middle aged man looked at Miranda's holographic form. This man was dressed in a finely cut business suit. The only source of light in the room came from his terminal, his blue eye implants and most astonishing of all, the dying sun glowing behind him. He tapped a cigar against his armrest as he put his scotch glass on the table beside him.

"Miranda, to be honest I expected your call earlier," The man said.

"Sir, I've called regarding the director of Project Dimension, there's been an incident and I fear the success of the project has been put at risk," Miranda explained.

The man held the cigar to his mouth, blowing a cloud of smoke out as he waited for Miranda. He clicked a button at his terminal, looking over the report he received before Miranda's arrival.

"One of the prisoners tried to escape, killed several guards and in response Victor executed him. Is that what you were going to tell me?" He asked.

"Yes but Van Damme has also dismissed Yeoman Chambers and his attitude hasn't helped. Victor Van Damme is arrogant, self righteous and cruel for cruelty's sake."

"People dismiss you as cold Miranda but they know your good at your job. Victor is good at his job, tell me Miranda do you know any man who is more intelligent than him?"

Miranda hesitantly shook her head. The Cerberus leader made a good point. Victor was an intelligent man, far more intelligent than the people in the Alliance and a hundred percent committed to Cerberus ideals, unlike other scientists they could have recruited.

"The reason Victor was at the top of my list is because he too shared the theory of parallel dimensions. His intelligence and ruthlessness allows him to keep control of the prisoners you recovered. It wasn't cruelty for cruelty's sake Miranda; Victor was destroying the prisoner's hopes. He killed off their most powerful members and set a line in the sand; if they attempt to escape they will die," The man explained.

"But future contact with people in other dimensions will be judged by how we interacted with these people," Miranda said.

"We don't plan on making contact in the future, until we confirm that these anomalies are temporary or permanent then we will take advantage of the situation as often as we can. Those enhanced humans abilities will be replicated to serve humanity. If others come through the rifts and first contact is made, then Victor will eliminate the prisoners so that they don't learn of what we have done. This is for the good of Cerberus Miranda, for the good of human dominance. Would you rather the alliance discover these beings and share them with the council?"

"No sir, not at all!"

"Good then it is decided, continue to watch Victor for me Miranda, if he proves to be too ambitious then eliminate him. That's why I stationed you there after all."

"Yes sir, I will continue to update you on future developments!"

Miranda cut the communication line and sighed as she stepped away from the podium. If Victor really was planning to go rogue, then Miranda would enjoy carrying out the Illusive man's termination order. The leader of Cerberus, the appropriately named Illusive man tapped at his console. He brought up the profile on a person of interest to Cerberus.

**Name: Michael Van Patrick**

**Current Location: Citadel Presidium**

The Illusive man added a few details, something his operatives needed to know.

**Orders: Capture on sight**

* * *

Michael yawned as he walked over a bridge on the Presidium Lake. Despite his long rest on the Normandy the past few hours had been tiring. Not so much for his body but his mind. The visions and the severity of his situation were beginning to take their toll. He hoped that there would be a way home but another part of him denied it. The more he thought about the visions, the less he thought of his own reality. Whatever was happening was happening for a reason. That was Michael's logic as he approached the Consort's place of business. When he walked down into the basement, his mouth dropped slightly in shock. It didn't quite have Chora's Den's atmosphere, but the Asari still wore very little.

"Hello, my name is Nelyna, how may I help you today?" A young Asari asked.

"Um, I'm here on Commander Shepard's behalf," Michael said nervously.

"Go up those stairs on the far end of the room, take a right and keep walking till you see the Consort's chambers. She's been expecting you," Nelyna winked.

Michael rubbed the back of his head as he walked towards the steps Nelyna told him of. He could already see the Consort's chambers right ahead or him. Walking down the corridor, Michael prepared the message Shepard had given him. Michael saw the Asari Consort standing at the far end of her room. Her back was turned but he could already see that she was a beautiful woman.

"That's close enough Michael Van Patrick, Shepard said that you would be coming," Sha'ira said as she turned to face Michael.

"I thought so, I'm here on his behalf to collect the credits from this job we did for you," Michael explained.

"Yes I recently received a lovely note from Septimus, he has agreed to stop spreading lies about my practice here."

"I'm glad we could help you keep your business running,"

"You are too kind Mr Van Patrick, but of course I would not expect Commander Shepard to help someone out of the kindness of his heart," Sha'ira reached into her pocket, giving Michael a credit chit. "Hand that to Commander Shepard when you meet him, or keep it for yourself, I'd would also like to offer something else. That is if you are willing to give me a moment of your time."

"Um, Consort I don't know whether you know but you've kind of got a reputation, what exactly will this time involve?" Michael asked.

"Its all right Mr Van Patrick, it is a simple gift of words, an affirmation of who you are and who you will become!"

* * *

The Taxi ride to the Council's chambers had been a short one. Shepard and his team walked up the steps, meeting with Anderson near the top.

"The meetings already started, Udina is showing the council the evidence now," Anderson said.

He motioned them to follow him further up the steps. Tali looked at the surroundings of the meeting room in awe. She would quite rightly say that she was the first Quarian to have entered these chambers in years. Saren's voice was playing on the loud speaker. Looks of shock crossed the faces of the councillors. Shepard hid his satisfaction well; finally the council had been bought down to their level. Udina was particularly proud to have proven the council wrong.

"You wanted proof, there it is," The Ambassador said, pointing a finger at the council for emphasis.

Even the Turian councillor couldn't deny it any longer. A Spectre, his spectre had gone rogue.

"This evidence is irrefutable ambassador, Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes," The Turian wasn't hesitant in his speech, but Shepard could tell that he didn't like admitting he was wrong.

"I recognise the other voice with Saren, Matriarch Benezia," The Asari Councillor lowered her gaze in a mix of shock and disappointment.

Shepard raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't expected the other one with Saren to be so well known.

"Matriarch Benezia is a guide and mentor to my people, much like many Asari. She is also a powerful biotic and will no doubt be a powerful ally for Saren," The Asari explained.

Shepard inwardly cringed, Saren not only had the Geth at his disposal, but he also had a Matriarch as his ally. If she truly was as renowned as the councillor made her out to be then she surely had a long list of followers. To Shepard that meant more than just a Geth uprising, but perhaps a Civil War within the Citadel.

"I'm more interested in the reapers. What do you know about them?" The Salarian asked.

"Only what was extracted from the Geth's memory core, the Reapers were an ancient race of the machines. They wiped out the Prothean's, then they vanished," Anderson explained.

"The Geth revere the Reapers as gods and Saren is the prophet for their return," Shepard said.

"We think the conduit is the key to bringing them back, Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime."

"Do we even know what this conduit is?"

"Saren thinks it can bring the reapers back, that's bad enough!"

For a moment the Salarian looked as if he was intrigued. That was until the Turian councillor spoke up.

"Listen to what you are saying! Saren wants to bring back the machines that destroyed all life in the galaxy? Impossible it has to be, where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence?" The Turian asked all the right questions, but they were questions that made Shepard's job harder.

The commander blinked in confusion; did they not have evidence based on the vision of the Beacon? Then again it was certainly easy to believe that Michael Van Patrick was a raving maniac, especially considering his unique origin. But Shepard had an open mind; he was open with alien culture, religion and even theories that highlighted how the Prothean's vanished. But above all, Shepard was a patient and tolerant man. That was why he didn't bring Michael with him. Michael would have knocked Udina off the podium and yelled in the council's faces. It would have been an entertaining site, but Shepard knew that politics required a calm approach.

"I tried to warn you about Saren but you refused to face the truth, don't make the same mistake again," Shepard said.

"That was different, you've proven that Saren is a traitor allied with the Geth. We know he is searching for the conduit but we don't really know why," The Asari councillor explained.

"The Reapers are obviously a myth commander, a convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the Geth to his will," The Salarian added.

Shepard didn't nod but he agreed with the point. It wouldn't be the first time someone used the name of god to influence thousands into war. But Shepard trusted his instincts, and his instincts told him the Reapers were real.

"Fifty thousand years ago the Reapers wiped out all of galactic civilisation. If Saren finds the conduit, it will happen again," Shepard said.

The Turian councillor simply shook his head; "Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the right and privileges of a Spectre. The council has stripped him of his positon," He said dismissively

"That is not good enough, you know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse, send your fleet in!" Udina said.

"A fleet can not track a single man!"

"A citadel fleet could secure the entire region, keep the Geth from attacking any more of our colonies," Udina explained.

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems! We wont be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies," The Turian councillor said.

Shepard frowned, glaring at the Turian.

"Every time humanity asks for help you ignore us," He said.

"Shepard's right, I am sick of this council and its anti human bull…"

The Asari councillor raised her hands, silencing Udina's protests. Though a few people watching the meeting gasped in shock at the Ambassador's tone. Shepard didn't like Udina, but he at least respected his stance against the council. He would have been tempted to laugh.

"There may be another way, something that doesn't require ships or fleets," The Asari said.

"No, humanity is not ready for the responsibility," The Turian shook his head.

Shepard knew exactly what they were talking about. It was something that humanity had been pushing for. But above all Shepard knew it was what he needed to take Saren down. He stepped up to the podium, putting a respectful tone into his voice.

"Council if I may, think of this logically, Udina will finally have the human spectre he has been pushing for and you will have a way of stopping Saren that doesn't require fleets. I have already been working this case, it was a human colony that was attacked, let it be a human to bring Saren in. Think of this as a way for humanity to test its value to the council," Shepard explained.

The Asari councillor nodded her head, in full agreement. Even the Turian councillor admitted it as he hesitantly pressed a button at his console. It was an action all the council members mimicked as they updated their databases.

"Commander Shepard, please step forward," The Asari asked.

Shepard looked to Anderson, who nodded his head in approval. Human and alien alike leant over the railings overlooking the chamber. They watched as Saren walked onto the platform facing the council. He stood at ease, bowing his head as the council spoke. It was a speech they obviously prepared well, but didn't often speak. Pride and dignity were held in their voices as they spoke.

"It is the decision of this council that you be granted all the power and privileges of the Special tactics and reconnaissance branch of the Citadel!"

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file!"

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the council, instruments of our will!"

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold!"

"You are the first human Spectre commander, this is a great honour for you and your species!"

"I am honour councillor," Shepard bowed his head.

"We're sending you into the traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorised to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him," The Salarian councillor explained.

"I'll find him," Shepard said.

"This meeting of the council is adjourned!"

The council members walked back, away from their podiums. Everyone who was watching dispersed, either to spread the news or try to catch a glimpse of the commander as he left. Wrex and Tali followed the human group as they walked down the steps away from the council chambers. Once they had stopped, Anderson shook Shepard's hand.

"Congratulations Commander," The Captain said.

"We've got a lot of work to do Shepard, you're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies," Udina said.

"You'll get access to special equipment and training now, you should head down to the C-Sec academy and speak with the Spectre Requisitions officer," Anderson explained.

"I'll head down there shortly, thank you captain," Shepard said.

"Come with me Anderson, I'll need your help to set this up," Udina said.

Anderson nodded his head, saluting the group before walking away with Udina. Shepard opened his Omni-tool, seeing that his Codex had been updated with Spectre files. He had also received a pass for the special stock with C-sec. But what caught Shepard's interest in particular was the upgrades to his Omni-tool. Incineration and Cryo tech had been added to his blade along with an increase in its power output. Wrex whistled as Shepard activated the longer Omni blade.

"All right, one of you call Michael and tell him to meet us at C-Sec Academy," Shepard ordered as he deactivated his Omni-blade.

"Sure thing Commander," Ashley said.

"Hey Shepard, why exactly is that boy coming with us anyway?" Wrex asked.

"If I said it was a human problem that would be hypocritical considering you'll be coming with us."

"And what makes you think I'll go with you?"

"Oh I see, too scared to take on a former Spectre," Shepard sighed.

Wrex growled, looking Shepard in the eye. Shepard looked back, never conveying any kind of hesitation. The old Krogan stepped back, a bark like chuckle escaping his mouth.

"Sure I'll come, fighting with you will be fun Shepard."

"A part of our pilgrimage is proving that we can give ourselves for the greater good, I found the evidence Shepard and I'm willing to see this through till its end," Tali explained.

"Good, as for you two Alenko, Williams, I'm your superior officer so until someone above my rank says otherwise, I'm ordering you both to follow me on this mission."

"A bit premature considering we don't have a ship yet," Ashley muttered.

"What about Michael sir, what makes you think he'll follow?" Kaidan asked.

"Call it intuition, but I have a feeling that young man will want to get involved!"

Shepard opened his Omni-tool, curiously reading the message Sha'ira had sent him.

* * *

At the consort's office, Sha'ira smiled as Michael hesitantly sat at her sofa. She took a seat across from him. Leaning towards him, the consort smiled as the young man hesitated.

"I see many things already Mr Van Patrick, you are a stranger in a world that seems impossible to believe," She began, soothingly rubbing the back of his neck.

Michael blushed as he looked into the woman's eyes. It didn't feel like someone was digging through his mind, so it definitely wasn't telepathy.

"I see your idols, both men you wish to live up to but feel you cant. One a brilliant scholar, his genius must have changed your very world. You feel like you do not live up to his intelligence, but his example drives you forward. The other is a good man, a strong man both inside and out, a man that many compare you to. This empowers you, but inside you feel that it is not even possible to achieve his greatness. So you constantly wonder why you still fight, whether you should fight. It is both of these men, the examples they set that helped you move forward. You will continue to move forward."

"I don't understand, how are you looking inside me like this?" Michael asked as he slipped Shai'ra's hand away from his face.

"It is a small mystery, these things can be either the basis of your future or its very undoing."

Michael stood up, stepping away from the sofa.

"Are you saying that I shouldn't think about my Grandfather and Captain America? That their examples are what are holding me back? No, I refuse to believe that," Michael lowered his head.

"You feel that in the future their ideals are outdated, that that is exactly what led them both to their ends," Sha'ira said as she got off the sofa.

"Stop it, whatever your doing stop, I know who I am but I have no idea who I'm gonna be in a few years."

The Asari consort bought her face close to Michael's, reading his expression. She smiled as Michael frowned at her.

"I see, you will truly surpass Shepard's expectations of you," Sha'ira grinned.

"Expectations? He has expectations of me?" Michael asked.

"Of course, there is more to him than meets the eye you know. I would say I am one of the few people whom knows the depths of his mind."

"That gift of yours, your ability to judge a person's character. Shepard came here because he wanted you to tell him what exactly he could become down the line, what would he become?"

"I can not read the future, I can only tell someone what forms the basis of their possible greatness. What can form the basis of our possible greatness is remembering the lessons your idols taught you."

Michael touched his heart, images of Captain America and his Grandfather passing before his eyes. He recalled something father once said.

_"Your grandpa didn't choose Rogers because he could become the perfect soldier, he chose him because at his heart Steve Rogers was a good man. And when he took the super soldier serum he remained a good man!"_

Squeezing his hand into a fist, Michael turned towards the door.

"Remember my words Van Patrick, they will give you strength," Sha'ira said.

"No, not your words, my idols," Michael smiled. "Thank you, now I know what I have to do!"

He didn't know if he could get home. What he did know was that right now he was capable of doing something in this world. Good men like Steve Rogers and his grandfather could have turned their backs. Even if the whole galaxy had changed, Michael Van Patrick swore to himself that he would remain the good man his idols were. Like Steve Rogers he was a man in a whole new time, and like his grandfather he had a gift that he could use to help others. He'd join Shepard to stop Saren and the Reapers, the way his idols would have.

Next Chapter 9: The Normandy

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time the team finally sets off to track down Saren. Shepard buys MVP a new suit of armour, while Anderson has another mission for Shepard.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

I'm back with another update, the Normandy team finally sets off while the plot thickens at the Project dimension lab. Enjoy :)

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 9: The Normandy

Michael's walk back to C-Sec Academy had been easy. He had familiarised himself with the path to take. Taking a cab would have been quicker, but Michael wanted to enjoy the walk. His Omnitool beeped, signalling that he had a message. Curiously reading the message, Michael raised his eyebrows when he finished with it. The message had been an advertisement from the Consort's Enclave.

_In need of entertainment, comfort or are you just looking for someone to talk to?_

_Then come to the Enclave of the Asari Consort. New clients can enjoy the pleasures of the Embrace Eternity package deal._

He had no idea what Embrace Eternity meant but the price alone put Michael off completely. A hundred years later and still people were paying ridiculous amounts of money for pleasure. He hoped it was something that only happened in this future and not his. Walking into the elevator, Michael decided to again check his Codex for new details. His study topics included alien creatures like Varren and species that would be seen outside of Council space. Michael couldn't find any positive articles about Batarian's. He happened upon an article with the title "Cerberus", but before he could open the file the elevator door opened. Michael gasped as he was pulled out of the lift. Ashley gripped his head in a headlock, ruffling his hair.

"Congratulations Mr Van Patrick, you're coming with us on a mission to stop a rogue Spectre," Ashley said.

Michael slipped out of Ashley's arms, straightening out his hair.

"I already figured you'd be taking me along," He said.

"It makes sense, you did pretty well against Fist's men and that was without armour," Kaidan shrugged his shoulders.

"I still think it's a bad idea, he and Tali may have talent but a couple of thugs are nothing in comparison to trained soldiers. Shepard should reconsider taking crew members with so little experience, no matter how good their intentions are," Garrus explained.

"We're standing right here," Tali huffed.

Wrex chuckled at Tali's angry stance. He leant across the wall a few feet away from the team. The Krogran had already procured a new set of heavy armour and the second grade of his Hurricane shotgun. Michael then looked to Kaidan and Ashley. Kaidan was wearing a suit of dark armour with desert camouflage on some parts of it. Ashley had seemed to upgrader her white and pink phoenix armour to the same Onyx style armour Shepard wore, minus the N7 symbol on the shoulder pad.

"The best warriors are those that are forged in the fires of combat, and like it or not those two are both involved now. It was the Quarian…"

"My name is Tali!"

Wrex showed no offence to Tali's interruption, in fact it seemed to amuse him even more.

"The Quarian knows about the Geth, that gives us an edge and the kid…"

"Its Michael!"

"The boy's involved now because of this supposed vision he saw. Saren wants him dead and that's reason enough to keep him with us," Wrex explained.

"Great, now I'm "the boy"," Michael sighed.

Kaidan laughed while Ashley shook her head. Michael then looked over the other team members. Tali was still in her rusty armour, but she was carrying a small bag along with her usual weapons. Garrus also carried a bag, along with a new sniper rifle. That confirmed Michael's suspicion of Shepard recruiting the two of them.

"Where's Shepard?" Michael asked.

"Down by the requisitions officer, in fact he wanted to see you as soon as he could," Garrus said.

"All right well I'll see you guys later," Michael said as he walked past the group.

Ashley narrowed her eyes at the boy. She hid her feelings on the subject, mainly because of Shepard's authority. But she liked the idea of Michael Van Patrick joining the team even less then the aliens. He was talented, but that would only get him so far. Plus she was sceptical as to the accuracy of this "vision" the Beacon had given him. But Commander Shepard was a man with twice her experience and a Ruthless War hero. If he felt that the team needed Michael, then Ashley had faith in Shepard's decision.

* * *

Shepard stood in the C-Sec Requisition office, adding his palm print to equipment forms. Spectres had access to special equipment and supplies, but they had to cover the price with their own income. Shepard had a few favours he could call in, from both his contacts within the Alliance and outside of it. Barla Von and Sha'ira weren't the only characters with hidden agendas that he associated himself with. Shepard had a list of contacts from his days on Earth, thugs that became millionaires, hiding dark pasts that Shepard could out in an instant. He even kept in contact with people from his days as a Red; unlike him some former gang members chose an honest approach to rehabilitation. Gang members that became bouncers acted as good informants, even labourers for companies would at least hear rumours.

For now Shepard was using his own savings to pay for extra weapons he would give to the Alliance. Shepard knew that the alliance was currently working on getting him a ship. So he would pay for weapons, give them to the Alliance, whom would in turn put them on the ship Shepard would take. He then typed out a message to Admiral Hackett. If the Admiral had any missions requiring expert operatives, Shepard volunteered his services in exchange for any information, equipment and credits found on those missions. Sending the message Shepard then picked up his own requests from the C-Sec requisitions officer.

"Here you go Commander, the other items will be ready in a few minutes," The Turian said.

The Turian hefted a suit of heavy armour onto the desk. It was a deep red colour and lacked the N7 symbol Shepard usually adjourned. However it was built specifically with the kind of breather mask Shepard always used. He also requested a small case of upgrades including a heat dampener so he could fire longer bursts and a longer barrel for more damage. Shepard took the items and turned to Michael as the young man walked down the stairs.

"What did you want Shepard?" Michael asked.

Shepard remembered the message Sha'ira had sent him. She had said that for now, Michael Van Patrick would live up to his expectations. Michael Van Patrick's eyes held a new determination within them. Sha'ira had been vague about what they discussed but Shepard understood Michael's situation enough to recognise that the young man had felt lost. Without a cause to fight for, a young man like Michael couldn't simply sit down and adjust to a civilian life in a new world. He needed a mission like the one Shepard was about to go on.

"Did you need something?" Michael asked the question again.

"Actually I think you need something, a new suit of armour, Onyx is good but it won't hold out against the kind of fire you'll face out there," Shepard said as he turned to the requisitions officer. "Is it ready?"

"Yes Commander, would you like it put into a case or will you trade in the old armour?" The officer asked.

"We'll exchange the old armour for parts," Shepard said.

"What did you get me?" Michael asked.

"You needed better armour so I took the liberty of buying a suit of customised Guardian armour."

"What makes it customised?"

"Step into the changing room and you'll find out."

Michael walked into the changing room, taking off his armour as he did. He picked up the new armour Shepard had made for him. It was similar to the other Guardian armour designs Michael had seen. But this medium class armour was a lighter shade of blue and instead of the straps on the legs it had a cargo pouch on the left side. The armour also had an equipment belt similar to what soldiers used in Michael's time. Michael picked up the helmet; it was very different from the ones Ashley and Kaidan wore. The helmet was a smaller and less thickly than the standard issue. Michael put the helmet on and looked at himself in the mirror. The glass plate looked more like a pair of goggles, as it covered only Michael's eyes and the bridge of his nose. He laughed as he realised what Shepard had done. The man had downgraded the armour slightly; there were less magnetic clamps so Michael couldn't carry a lot of weapons. This armour also felt lighter than the Onyx, despite being medium class.

'Oh well, daddy never taught you to be ungrateful,' Michael sighed as he began putting the armour on.

Shepard looked over several rifles as he waited for Michael. When the young man finally finished, Shepard turned to examine him.

"It suits you, the armour is made of a lighter weave than your previous one, but it also has three upgrade slots," Shepard explained.

"Three, I thought you downgraded it," Michael said.

"Its true that on its own it wont last long under heavy fire, but your working as part of a team Van Patrick, that and your agile, heavy armour will only slow you down. Upgrades will strengthen your armour with weighing it down, here take a shielding module to bolster your kinetic barriers, and a medical interface, it'll automatically apply stimulants when your wounded in order to keep you going," Shepard put two upgrade modules into Michael's hand. "Connect them with the equipment slots on your back and he upgrades will take effect immediately."

"Thank you Shepard!"

"Now come on, we need to find ourselves a ship," Shepard said as he grabbed the equipment case he bought.

* * *

Project Dimension Labs

Medical Director Wilson was in utter astonishment over the findings of Project Dimension. One of the subjects was a medical marvel, a miracle for humanity. If this subject number ten's rate of healing could be duplicated it would make Cerberus, no humanity itself stronger than ever. Its rate of healing surpassed a Krogan's by stories, even on the brink of death the subject could still recover. Wilson stood with a glass window separating him from Subject Ten. The subject itself was in a glass tube, bathed in a green liquid that was meant to keep him in stasis. Van Damme had designed the liquid to mimic a biotic stasis. The subject's skin was still healing, some parts of its metal bones were exposed and the hair on its head was slowly growing back. Its healing factor was so powerful that it even repaired damaged organs and hair follicles, right down to the hair on its arms.

"Dr Wilson, I don't approve of what you put in your report, Project Ten as you state has a name, and he's also human. You use the term it as if he's some kind of creature," Kelly explained.

Wilson silently sighed; Kelly Chambers was still hanging around. Despite Director Van Damme's attempts to get her to leave, the Illusive man stilled demanded that she stay. She still had not finished her psychological analysis of all of the subjects. Her focused remained purely on Subject Ten.

"Subject Ten is incredibly dangerous Miss Chambers, you'd best stay away from the labs. "It" would gladly kill you if it had the chance, but I see the real value of the subject. The Illusive man can get a killing machine anywhere; this thing here is best suited for the medical aspect of our projects. Just think of it Chambers, if we recreate subject ten's healing factor and mass-produce it then a whole new medical science will evolve. Doctors will become redundant…"

"Costing millions of people in the care industry their jobs," Kelly interrupted the scientist.

He glared back at her, shocking her slightly.

"A few hundred million people losing their jobs is a small price to pay for humanities continued survival. Hell death itself will become redundant…"

"You are spouting nonsense Wilson!"

Wilson turned to the door, his glare fading as he looked at Miranda. The operative looked at Subject Ten's prison in mild interest. Unlike Kelly she wasn't as vocal in her disagreements with the way other projects were run. The Illusive man gave his operatives complete autonomy in order to get results. Wilson was a man who got results despite sacrifices; in fact his whole family had been like that. One of Miranda's favourite scholars had been an ancestor of Wilson's by the name of Cornelius; the man had published many papers on human enhancements. Many of Miranda's own enhancements had been based on the ideas Cornelius published.

"Death is something we can not beat, this man's age may be impossible to determine, but like the Asari he will one day die of old age," Miranda explained.

"But think of what can be achieved by a human who can live for a thousand years," Wilson said.

"I am thinking, experiments like this are necessary to assure human dominance!"

"But what about his human rights?" Kelly asked.

Wilson let out a laugh, unaware of the spike in Subject Ten's heartbeat.

"That thing is not human, I saw the way it acted when it attacked Director Van Damme, its just an animal," Wilson said.

Kelly and Wilson jumped in shock as a banging sound echoed in subject ten's chamber. Even Miranda was taken aback by the subject's actions. Logan bashed his hand against the glass tube, seemingly looking at Wilson, despite the glass being a mirror on his side.

"He heard you," Kelly gasped.

"No way, that things hearing couldn't be that good!" Wilson trembled.

Miranda's usual cold expression was replaced with a smirk as she strutted out of the room. Out of all of the subject's, Ten was the most interesting. He was a short man who you could dismiss as a thug. But Miranda saw more determination in that man than anyone she'd ever met. The other subjects had named him "Wolverine", a fitting name to a ferocious man. Miranda stopped at Van Damme's office, entering to see Van Damme speaking with a contact.

"And you are certain that Shepard will be taking the Normandy?" The director asked.

Miranda noticed that Van Damme was using a headset to speak with the spy. That meant that only he knew what the man, or woman's voice sounded like.

"Good, that saves us money on tracking the boy," Victor nodded his head. "Don't worry you'll get an advance payment…no, don't every try to capture the boy, let him get settled into the Normandy, monitor his performance on missions and then relay his location to us…no not when he goes to a planet that the council suggests, we must ensure it is a mission that does not get in the way of Shepard's long term goal…yes I do believe he will give up the boy if rescuing him gets in the way of stopping Saren!"

Miranda tapped her foot against the floor, causing Victor to turn to her.

"Report to me when the boy finishes his first mission, don't interact with him or any other member of Shepard's ground team…because you fool Commander Shepard is a good judge of character, one conversation with him and he'll know what your up to. Keep in contact, but be discreet, if you jeopardise your position with us then rest assured you wont have to worry about an Alliance prison…think long and hard about what it might mean!"

Victor removed the headset and placed it on his desk.

"What an idiot, "what does that mean?" he asks. I'm surprised to see that your still here Miranda," Victor said.

"I see the value of project dimension, so I'm willing to put up with your attitude," Miranda crossed her arms, using them as a barrier between herself and Victor.

He was inches from her and she could hear his heart beating, in perfect synchrony as hers. They were both perfect calm, neither one willing to back down from the other. But Miranda did remember a time when she would have followed Victor for more personal reasons. She shook those thoughts aside; Victor Van Damme was arrogance incarnate. He was foolish enough to believe that only his view was valid.

"Tell me Mirande what would you do if you were in charge of the Illusive man's little side interest, this New human Spectre!"

"I would simply monitor Shepard's progress, his reports indicate the possibility that Saren is working on behalf of a group known as the Reapers. The Illusive man is interested, thus Cerberus as a whole must be focused on these "Reapers" as well. If they represent a threat to humanity then cooperation with Shepard would be the best course of action," Miranda explained.

"Just as I expect from you, loyalty to humanity first as always, you do realise that humanity isn't the only group worth saving, there are other races of infinitely more value than simple humans!"

"Enough of your ranting," Miranda said as she turned to the doorway.

"Shepard doesn't fight solely for humanity, his policy is "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few", if he is faced with saving a million aliens over a thousand humans, he'll sacrifice the humans because there are less of them. Thus he is not an ally of Cerberus, he is a threat," Victor explained as he gripped Miranda's arm tightly.

Miranda slapped Victor's hand aside and walked out of the door. When she was out of sight she took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart. Victor Van Damme was a man of action and ideas. If he did become a threat to Cerberus, Miranda knew that she needed to be ready to kill him. That meant that she couldn't let the man make her vulnerable again.

* * *

Citadel

Shepard and his crew walked out of the elevator. They had been ordered to go to a private space dock, one that would be ready for them constantly. Much to Ashley and Kaidan's surprise, the ship waiting for them was the Normandy. Tali looked at the ship in astonishment, her expression of awe hidden by her mask. Like any other Quarian she had always been interested in ships.

"Wonder how much the Alliance pays for a private space dock," Wrex huffed.

Waiting for them was Anderson and Udina. The two men had clearly been discussing something, but stopped when the team arrived. Udina turned to Shepard, a neutral expression stamped across his face.

"I've got big news for you Shepard, Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now," Udina said.

"She's quick and quiet and you know the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre, treat her well commander," Anderson exclaimed.

"The Alliance Brass has ordered you to give me the ship haven't they?" Shepard asked.

"Partly, but you needed your own ship and a Spectre cant answer to anyone but the council. And its time for me to step down, I was in your position several years ago Shepard, I failed, now's its your turn!"

Shepard nodded his head, letting the topic drop so he could focus on the mission.

"What kind of leads do we have?" He asked.

"Saren's gone, don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after: the conduit, he's got his Geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues," Anderson explained.

"We have had reports of Geth in the Feros System shortly before our colony there dropped out of contact. And there have been sightings around Noveria," Udina said.

"Figure out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria, you might even be able to find out where the conduit is before he does."

"Anything else?" Shepard asked.

"We do have one more lead. Matriarch Benezia, the other voice on the recording. She has a daughter, a scientist who specialises on the Protheans. We don't know whether she's involved but it might be a good idea to find her, see what she knows. Her name is Liara, Dr Liara T'Soni, last we heard she was at an archaeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds of the Artemis Tau cluster," Udina explained.

Shepard put a hand to his chin, thinking for a moment.

"She may have valuable information, or at least provide us with something we can use against Benezia. We'll go after her first," Shepard stated.

"Its up to you commander, you have free reign to use whatever methods you can to stop Saren," Anderson said.

"But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole, make a mess and I'll be stuck cleaning it up," Udina said.

"It'll be necessary Ambassador!"

"I was afraid you would say that," Udina sighed. "Anderson, brief Shepard on the final details then come back to the Embassy, good luck out there Shepard. And remember, you were a human long before you became a Spectre."

Udina walked to the elevator, leaving Shepard with Anderson. He motioned for the team members to get on the ship. Everyone but Michael moved towards the ship's side hatch. Anderson looked at the young man curiously.

"Did you have a question?" He inquired.

"Anderson, you said that you had also been in Shepard's position, what do you mean by that?" Michael asked.

"When I was Shepard's age I was chosen as a possible Spectre candidate. Saren was chosen to evaluate me."

Michael widened his eyes and Anderson nodded his head. The young man put two and two together.

"Saren and I were on a mission to rescue a scientist, we discovered her location and split up to rescue her. The nearby Element zero refinery was blown up just as I managed to rescue the Doctor. In his report Saren said that I blew his cover, forcing the terrorists to blow up the Refinery, but I think he triggered the explosions on purpose. A lot of people died, the casualty list numbered in the hundreds, with many more wounded and crippled," Anderson explained.

Michael and Shepard could both see that this memory was personal to Anderson. Shepard had heard many rumours, one of which had been that Anderson was personally involved with this scientist he had rescued. Anderson's face was a mask of professionalism, and his voice didn't give away any guilt. He was completely certain that Saren was involved.

"I've seen how Saren works, no conscience or regret, he'd kill a thousand if it meant completing his mission and he hates humans too."

"So that's it isn't it? That's why you were so determined to see Saren go down, he ruined your chance to be a Spectre," Michael said.

"There's a little more to it than that, but I had my chance, now its yours and Shepard's turn to stop Saren," Anderson said solemnly.

"We wont let you down Captain," Michael lifted his hand into a salute.

As Shepard and Anderson went over the final details of the mission, Michael walked to the Normandy's decontamination hatch. He blinked in astonishment as the scanner's light ran over his body.

"Decontamination complete!" The computerised voice said.

As Michael stepped into the ship, he again marvelled at its design. The CIC had a full staff of crewmembers. Chief navigator Pressly shook his head in disapproval. Michael traced the line of the man's site and spotted the alien members of the crew. Ashley and Kaidan guided them through a door and down a set of stairs. Looking to the Normandy's cockpit, Michael smiled as he confirmed his suspicions. Apart from the shore party there was no significant change to the crew. Joker was still the pilot, sitting impatiently as his chair as always.

"Hey Joker, enjoyed your shore leave, or have you just been sitting admiring the sites?" Michael asked as he walked up behind Joker.

"Hey Mike, believe it or not I do get out of this chair, I went to get a snack from the mess hall a few hours ago," Joker said.

"You must really like your ships!"

Joker chuckled; he didn't take any offence to the ignorance of Michael's statements.

"What can I say, the Normandy's state of the art, she's my new baby I'm not letting anyone else touch her."

"Whatever rocks your boat, though make sure no ones watching before you start stroking the controls," Michael chuckled.

Joker laughed at the statement as well, sighing as he leant back into his chair.

"Too bad about Captain Anderson though, he survives a hundred battles and gets taken down by backroom politics. Shepard better be careful or he'll be next on the chopping block," Joker explained.

"Well I'll go and get settled in, see you around Joker," Michael said.

The pilot nodded his head at the new crewmember. He sighed as he looked to his side; Shepard and Anderson were still talking. Anderson activated his Omni-tool, transferring data to Shepard's journal.

"This is to remain between us Shepard, but Admiral Hackett's deep cover agents in the Traverse have reported several disturbances, energy fluctuations that resembled the kind on Eden Prime when Michael appeared," Anderson explained.

"One in the Artemis Tau Cluster, I see, after we pick up the Doctor we can also check out this disturbance," Shepard said.

"Its not quite that simple Shepard, Hackett's contacts confirmed that the party they're spying on also sent several ships to the area…seventeen frigates were shot down Shepard, something of unbelievable power lashed out at this group before leaving. That's tells me that there was something on this planet they wanted really badly, once you've found the Professor, go to the uncharted world, investigate the wreckage and find out what Cerberus was after."

"Cerberus? The group was Cerberus?" Shepard asked.

Anderson nodded his head.

"I see, I'll use discretion for this captain, there's no reason to get Van Patrick more worked than he has to be. Tell Hackett to send any other reports of these disturbances to me. If Michael was right and he really is from another world my crew will be the first to welcome his "friends" when they come through," Shepard explained.

"Be honest Shepard, do you think this is some kind of invasion?" Anderson asked.

"The Council will ignore this and the possibility of the Reapers being real. My policy has always been to presume the worst-case scenario. The worst case scenario for this mission is that the Reapers exist and that whatever these disturbances mean they cant be good."

The Captain and the Commander saluted one another, wishing each other good luck. Shepard walked onto the Normandy and straight towards the cockpit.

"Comms open for you commander, if you want to say something for the crew go ahead," Joker said.

Shepard nodded his head as he pressed the intercom. As he spoke his voice echoed through the Normandy. Michael was putting his equipment into his locker when he heard Shepard.

"Listen up Normandy, this is your commander speaking. We have our orders, find Saren before he finds the conduit and I refuse to let anything get in the way of that mission."

Chakwas had been working at her post when she heard Shepard's voice. She stopped working to listen to the commander. Kaidan's headache faded slightly as he heard the Commander strengthen the crew's resolve.

"We all know what happened at Eden Prime, we saw the bodies, the destruction, we saw what Saren did. And I plan to make him pay!"

Tali turned to the intercom as she settled into engineering. When she heard Shepard speak of hi species and the part they had to play, she couldn't help but compare it to her people's solitary nature.

"For too long our species has stood apart from the others, now its time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy. Time to show them what human's are made of."

His speech reached the ears of the common crew members, the CIC and engineering staff. They all listened as they prepared the ship for launch.

"Saren and his forces will be waiting for us, but we'll be ready for them too."

Garrus, Wrex and Ashley stood at the Normandy's galaxy map. They looked to Shepard with an admiration fitting their commander's reputation. Ashley in particular held a smile on her face.

"This is the most important mission we have ever been on. The fate of an entire galaxy is at stake, we will stop Saren no matter what the cost!"

"Well said Commander the Captain will be proud," Joker said.

Shepard took his hand off the intercom and turned to leave.

"Fancy speeches wont stop Saren, get this bird in the air Joker, our first stop is the Artemis Tau Cluster," Shepard's professional demeanour returned as he walked down CIC.

The crewmembers looked at him with a mixture of respect and intimidation. Shepard was someone to fear, but his speech had quelled their doubts about his qualifications. Ashley saluted the Commander as he walked to her, Wrex and Garrus.

"We're ready to carry out our duties Commander," Ashley said.

"Good, you three will stay in the cargo bay, Ashley you take up your role as gunnery chief at the work bench, use these upgrades I bought at your own discretion," Shepard explained as he handed Ashley the case of upgrades. "Garrus, Wrex, feel free to contribute in whatever way you can, just be ready when I call you two to move out!"

"Thank you Commander, I noticed you don't have anyone watching the Mako, I'll be happy to repair any damages as well as calibrate the targeting matrix for the turret," Garrus said.

"Call me when you need me Shepard," Wrex huffed as he walked away.

Ashley and Garrus gave the commander a final salute before leaving for their posts. Shepard walked to the galaxy map, standing at ease and watching his crewmen work. He would check how the ground team was doing later, but right now he would simply wait for the Normandy to reach its first mission. Michael put his helmet in his locker and ran a finger across the symbol on his shirt. Like Wrex, Tali and Garrus he didn't wear an alliance uniform. Michael understood that he needed to take orders from Shepard, but he never once thought of himself as an alliance soldier. Despite his situation he was still a member of the Avenger Initiative. That meant that until he had a mission his priority was to train. Taking a rifle from the rack, Michael walked to the Normandy's targeting range. He looked down the barrel and straight towards the illuminated target.

'Who you used to be doesn't matter anymore Saren, former Spectre, former hero it doesn't matter. Right now you're a threat to public safety, and we'll be ready to take you down," Michael thought as he pulled the trigger.

The Normandy flew away from the Citadel; ready to finally begin the mission it was made for.

Next Chapter 10: Training and Downtime

* * *

Next time will kind of be another filler chapter, we take a look at whats happening on both the Normandy, Camp Hammond and the Project dimension labs, expect a few more revelations into the relationship of Miranda Lawson and Victor Van Damme, as well as Victor's ancestry!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel or Mass Effect

Here I am with the next chapter, not a lot happening here, except some character relationship developments, most of the dialogue with Ashley I got from replaying the game, enjoy

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 10: Training and downtime

There had been a shooting range at Camp Hammond, but Michael was far from being the best marksman there. General shooting with an automatic was easy, but when it came to sniping and firing around a hostage, Michael knew that he needed work. He looked down the site of the Avenger rifle, his hand shaking as he aimed past the hostage. As soon as he had a shot he took it, sending the bullet flying into the hostage target board. He lowered the rifle, slapping the palm of his hand against his forehead. The target board representing the hostage continually flashed a red colour. A sudden laugh drew Michael's attention away from the firing range.

"Forgot to take into account distance didn't you?" Garrus asked as he walked to the range.

"I thought I had the target, I didn't realise the settings were this realistic," Michael said.

"Well when your shooting in a windy environment with a few hundred yards between yourself and the target, you need to take into account direction of the wind. A strong wind can actually alter the direction of a bullet, that's why snipers don't always aim for the exact point a target is standing at," Garrus explained as he set up his rifle.

Michael watched the Turian take aim at his target; it used the same settings Michael used. Garrus squeezed the trigger, sending the bullet flying flawlessly into the hostile target's head.

"Bet you fifty creds you can't do that again," Wrex said, walking into the room.

Garrus flashed the Turian equivalent of a grin as he fired his rifle again. Once again the bullet hit its target. Wrex grumbled as he put the credits in Garrus's hand.

"So Wrex, you must have some pretty interesting stories," Michael said.

"There's no story, if you want a talk go speak to the Turian or the Quarian," Wrex said.

"I see, you were one of those mercenaries, no big jobs," Garrus smirked.

"Big jobs usually involve breaking a lot of laws, I'm not talk about that in front of a C-Sec agent!"

"Ex C-Sec Agent now," Garrus said.

"What happened?" Michael asked.

"I turned my resignation in, the Executor says that he'll keep my office free but I doubt I'll go back anytime soon!"

Garrus lowered his rifle, turning to Michael as he spoke.

"You're probably too young to realise this but the galaxy isn't a safe place and you cant always rely on the elected authorities. This case with Saren was just one classic example of how far the Council isn't willing to go. C-Sec operates on a similar basis, protocol, regulations, everything has to be done slowly without offending anyone," Garrus explained.

"I can understand the frustration, but the rules are there for a reason," Michael said.

"You really are an Earthborn, only someone stuck on their home planet cant understand how dangerous a place the galaxy is," Wrex chuckled. "Makes me glad that I left Tuchanka, the whole wide galaxy may have been as big a shit hole as the home world, but at least it was different shit!"

"That's a very pessimistic way of looking at the galaxy," Michael pointed out.

"A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist!"

Michael lowered his rifle as Ashley entered the room. She was dressed in Alliance casual wear, holding an assault rifle and sniper rifle. Garrus took one last shot before folding his rifle up.

"Williams," He said.

"Vakarian," Ashley nodded.

Garrus walked out of the room, followed shortly after by Wrex.

"Adjusting to the Normandy well Mikey?" Ashley asked.

"It can be a little overwhelming, but then I think about the importance of stopping Saren. Still we've got plenty of help, Wrex, Garrus and Tali, Tali was here five minutes and already she knows more about the Normandy's engine than the fulltime engineering staff," Michael explained in amazement.

"That may not be a good thing," Ashley muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"This is an Alliance vessel and it was one of our colonies that was attacked. I get Shepard's decision to recruit the aliens, but I don't think they should be given the authority to poke around vital systems," Ashley said.

"Do you not trust them?" Michael asked.

"They aren't even part of the alliance Michael, they don't have the same stake in this as we do!"

"We need as much help as we can get, that's something Shepard sees. But that isn't why you don't trust them is it?"

Ashley placed her rifle on the rack, turning to Michael as he turned off his targeting range.

"This is the most advanced ship in the alliance fleet, they shouldn't be given free reign to poke around vital systems; engines, sensors, weapons…"

"You don't trust the Alliance's allies?" Michael interrupted her rant, crossing his arms slightly.

"I wouldn't call the council races allies," She said in disdain. "We, humanity I mean have to learn to rely on ourselves."

"So you would prefer we not accept help because it's from aliens?"

"That's not what I mean, we should just be prepared to go without the council's help. As noble as they may seem, when their backs are against the wall they'll abandon us. Look if your fighting a bear and the only way to survive is to sick your dog on it and run, you'll do it, no matter how much you love your dog its not human, its not racism, not really! People will always look out for members of their own species," Ashley explained.

Michael coughed, chuckling slightly. Ashley looked at the boy in confusion as he uncrossed his arms, rubbing his head.

"I'm sorry, I understand where you're coming from, as flawed as the logic is," Michael sighed. "You just compared the council government to a guy and his pet, I don't know whether to laugh or find that insulting. When you're up against a bear, the only thing to do is run, setting your dog on it isn't going to do anything. Thank goodness Garrus didn't hear you too, cause your basically saying that when push comes to shove people will look out for their own species, that isn't true, Garrus isn't going to join Saren."

"Your taking my logic and twisting it around Michael," Ashley sighed.

"No hear me out, Garrus, Tali and Wrex don't have to help us, they haven't asked Shepard about payment, not even Wrex and he's a mercenary. They are here because they **want** to be, they want to **help**, species doesn't matter to them. The Council is worried about their own member species because they are a government; governments have to worry exclusively about their countrymen…er members of their species. Let me bring you a new situation, a human has the option of helping a fellow human at the risk of his home being burned down by Batarians, he abandons a man in need to save himself."

"But that's…"

"Flawed and selfish yes, but that situation doesn't have to be the one that defines **us! **I'm not defined by what planet I came from!" Michael pointed his thumb at his chest as he spoke.

Ashley was taken aback by the boy's words. He was certainly a smart and understanding young man. It kind of reminded Ashley of Shepard, he too was said to be sympathetic to alien's, despite his actions at Torfan. A clapping sound drew their attention to the door. Shepard stood there, clapping his hands together.

"Well done Van Patrick, you've beaten the logic of the Terra Firma foundation," The Commander said.

"I'm sorry sir but I find that insulting, the founders of Terra Firma had ideals, now they're just a bunch of xenophobic idiots that have twisted the words of the founders," Ashley explained.

"People in the Twentieth Century probably said the same thing about Nazis and look at how history portrayed them."

Shepard cocked the predator pistol he held, aiming at the target he set up.

"As for your concerns about the aliens Chief don't worry, this is a multilateral mission, you have to work with aliens, like it or not!" Shepard said.

Before Ashley could even acknowledge the order, Shepard began firing his pistol at the targets.

* * *

Camp Hammond

Cloud 9 looked down the sight of her rifle, targeting the holographic Hydra agent. The simulation room had been expanded for the large training exercise for the whole Initiative. Members of the state teams were being sent in to train with the rookies that hadn't yet graduated. The current exercise was a military style search and destroy mission. Gauntlet stood on a mountaintop created by the simulator, watching the Initiative members at work. Komodo was included on a team consisting of the heroes Stature, Rage and Gravity. Hardball was put with Constrictor, Triathlon and Nighthawk. Trauma was put with Thor Girl, Ultra Girl and the Senior Avengers member Wasp.

"Great, Trauma gets all the hotties and I'm stuck with three guys on a high protein diet," Hardball groaned.

"Quiet kid," Nighthawk said.

"Cloud 9, give us the distance to the target," Triathlon said.

"Your target is …um just a few seconds away from you," Abby nervously stated.

"We need a specific distance," Constrictor said.

"Um!"

"Are they a few feet or clicks away Abby?" Nighthawk asked.

"They're right there!" Hardball said, covering his hands with his red energy balls.

The young cadet rushed towards the group of six Hydra agents. He delivered a swift uppercut to one's head and blocked an energy blast fired by another. But unknown to Hardball, two more Hydra Agents stood behind him. They threw off their camouflage cloaks and aimed their rifles at Hardball's back. As they pulled the triggers, Nighthawk ran behind Hardball. He used his cloak as a shield, deflecting the bullets. Constrictor then wrapped his wrist tentacles around the two agents, throwing them into the other two. Triathlon then delivered a swift punch to the final agent, knocking him out cold.

"Cloud 9 why didn't you tell us about the two camouflaged agents?" Triathlon asked.

His voice was calm, but it still made Abby nervous. It also didn't help that Gauntlet had his own five cents to add.

"CLOUD 9 IF YOU CAN'T SPOT ALL TARGETS THEN CHANGE YOUR VANTAGE POINT! JESUS ARE YOU A NEW WARRIOR OR THE BEST DAMN MARKSMAN IN CAMP!" The Instructor yelled.

"Yes sir," Cloud 9 said.

She picked her rifle up and ran to a better sniping position. Cloud 9 looked down the sight of her rifle again, seeing Komodo's team engaging a Hydra squad. Komodo slashed one agent across the head and Gravity threw several of them into the air. The lights of the simulation began to fade as the training dummies disappeared.

"What's going on?" Gauntlet asked.

"I'm cutting the simulation short Sergeant," Justice said over the intercom.

The cadets groaned as the simulation shut down. Cloud 9 lowered her rifle as she and the other cadets walked out of the simulator.

"Cloud 9, I'd like to have a talk with you in private, could you come to my office after lunch?" Justice asked.

"Y-yes sir," Abby said nervously.

"Hank," Wasp nodded her head at her ex husband.

"Janet, its good to see you again, how are things with Carol's Avengers?" Yellowjacket asked.

"Fine all things considered, how are things with Tigra?"

Hank lowered his head slightly at Jan's disappointed look. The disguised Skrull knew he had to act carefully, Pym was still hopelessly in love with his ex-wife, but didn't have the moral character to just leave his current lover at the drop of a hat. His focus then turned to Cloud 9 and Justice as they left with the other recruits. Criti Noll thought about the experiments that the Baron and Gyrich were carrying out with MVP's DNA. If MVP did return from that alternate reality, then it would present problems for the plan. But these "rifts" in the fabric of reality where the exact resource that the Skrull empire was looking for. He'd need to update the queen and soon.

"Greer's all right, anyway back to you Jan, I understand Jessica Drew recently joined your team!"

* * *

Project Dimension facility

Miranda Lawson got her food from the cafeteria and promptly withdrew back to the lab. While the other lab staff and technicians socialised, Miranda chose her work. After all this project, contact with another dimension was the most important discovery in the history of humanity. It was Cerberus, the representatives of humanity that would bring this secret into the light, but only after confirming whether these worlds represented a threat. Running her hand across the strange shield they had covered from the one who claimed to be a Captain, Miranda remembered the results of the tests they had run. The shield was made from a material that was practically indestructible. It absorbed impacts and energy and remained virtually unaffected by shifts in temperature. If this strange material could be copied, then Cerberus personnel would possess indestructible armour. But the real interest came from this man's blood. His genetic code showed signs of modification much more superior than her own.

'Father paid for the best researchers money could buy, what kind of minds exist in this man's world to be able to turn him into a super soldier like this?' Miranda wondered.

She converted her focus from the weapons they had recovered to the prison cell. Kelly Chambers would also take her lunch to work with her. She had actually been spending more time in the cells than with her colleagues, surprising for a "people" person like her. But as Miranda expected there was one person on the base who only took his lunch to his office because he was purely unsociable. Victor as usual would rather than sit with himself than his own staff.

'He hasn't changed at all,' Miranda huffed.

Victor sat in his office, merely eating his lunch. He wasn't going over research data or anything that contributed to work, he simply ate lunch. Several files were piled up on his desk, so Victor would certainly be working after he finished eating. His office had very little in terms of decorations. Like Miranda he had no pictures of loved ones. A display case was put in the corner of his room, showing a metallic helmet of some kind. He also kept the Iron man gauntlet on his desk. Victor had taken a liking to Stark's weapons and swore to perfect the armour for Cerberus military use. It had become his own personal goal in the project.

Kelly Chambers had set her own goal for Project Dimension. She hoped to become an unofficial ambassador for First contact with alternate versions of humanity. To achieve this she spent more and more time with the prisoners. Her infectious smile never faded as she walked into the middle of the group. Their collective depression hadn't changed since Logan's escape attempt. Kelly hoped that her news would cheer them up.

"Everyone, I've got some really good news," Kelly said.

"Oh you're going to upgrade us to the first class suite? That's wonderful," Kelly had become well aware of Spider-man's sarcastic humour.

"Or maybe they've finally decided to get rid of the people who cant keep their mouths shut," She had also adjusted to Emma Frost's cold and anti-social attitude.

"No, your friend Logan, the one that tried to escape is alive," Kelly said.

The group collectively widened their eyes at Kelly's news.

"So his healing factor is that powerful," Tony muttered.

"I'm not surprised," Spider-man chimed in.

"What's so good about that piece of news? He survives and then ends up as one of your lab rats, I don't know which is worse really," Hawkeye said.

Kelly backed away slightly, taken aback by the fierce gaze on Hawkeye's face.

"Its hope, thank you Miss Chambers, it may have been against your job but we appreciate you telling us," Cap said.

"You've got Cerberus all wrong Captain, our methods may be cruel but we have good intentions. Our advancements save lives and help humanity to become equal with the council races," Kelly explained.

"You've been asking us a lot of questions about our world, but we know next to nothing about this one. If you want to know more information then you need to tell us about your reality, what is out there that this "Cerberus" is preparing for?" Cap asked.

"I'm sorry Captain but I am not authorised to speak with you about that," Kelly said.

"Then we have nothing further to discuss."

Kelly remembered the Captain's cold expression as she walked out of the prison. She did slightly agree with his point, at least in the fact that an equal amount of information needed to be traded between them. But Victor Van Damme was not the kind of man to make demands to. There was probably only one person in the whole facility that Victor respected. Kelly nervously made her way to Miranda Lawson's office.

* * *

Abigail "Abby" Boylen sat in Justice's office. It felt like the hundredth time she had been here. Justice sat across from her in his chair.

"Its all right Abby, just talk to me, tell me what's on your mind," Vance said.

"I keep having them sir, dreams about MVP, every time I'm in training I keep thinking about him, is he hurt? Where is he? What is happening to him at this second? Sometimes I cant even sleep because I keep thinking about his safety, he's there because of me sir," Abby explained.

"Its okay Abby, its all right to be worried about him, but Gauntlet did tell me about your performance today, if you freeze like that on a mission then people are going to get killed. MVP is still alive, I know he is, but the one thing you don't want is another persons death on your conscience, you need to put that doubt to the back of your mind when your on the field. When you're in the middle of a fight, think only about the fight and when you get orders think only about carrying those orders out, don't worry about the consequences of failing or succeeding in that mission!"

Justice put a comforting hand on Abby's shoulder, patting it slightly.

"Take my advice and think about something else to divert your attention away from it," Justice said.

Abby nodded her head and moved towards the girl.

"Abby wait…I think about him too, but MVP was one of the best, Hank Pym is one of the best to, MVP will survive and Pym will figure out a way to get him back, everything will work out!" Vance explained.

Again Cloud 9 nodded her head, before she walked out of the office.

* * *

One, two, three, four, five, six, Michael counted down the push-ups he performed in the training room. He had reached ten and hadn't even started sweating yet. It took a lot to make him sweat, and even then Michael wouldn't give up. He owed his father for that sense of determination. When he was younger, Michael felt like quitting his exercise regime, but his father Brian wouldn't let him. Now that Michael thought about it, his father was more of a drill sergeant than Gauntlet was. Michael wasn't the only one going through training; Kaidan was levitating several objects with his Biotics. A moment passed before Kaidan dropped the boxes, clutching his head slightly.

"There something wrong LT?" Michael asked.

"Just a migraine, nothing serious, I get them from time to time," Kaidan said, taking a towel nearby and wiping his sweating face.

"Have you ever thought about seeing a doctor about them?" Michael looked up at Kaidan, but was still focused enough to do his push up routines.

"The problems already figured out, I'm an L2 Biotic," Kaidan smiled.

"I've read about Biotic's but I haven't met many," Michael said.

"You've met the Asari Consort, and every Asari is a Biotic," Kaidan chuckled.

Michael stopped his exercises and immediately stood up.

"How did you know I saw Miss Sha'ira?" He asked.

"Shepard told Ashley, who told Chakwas and Chakwas told me when I got my headache pills," Kaidan said.

"So technically the whole ship knows now?"

Kaidan laughed as he shook his head.

"If the whole ship knew everyone would be asking you, "hey what's the consort like?" On that note what is she like?" Kaidan asked.

"The Consort? Well she's…how do I put this…comforting, yeah she enjoys comforting people," Michael nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh huh," Kaidan muttered. "Yeah, a lot of people say that, apparently the Commander goes to see her," He said.

"Why would the Commander need to see her?" Michael asked.

"Shepard's been through a lot of missions that I can honestly say I wouldn't have coped with, surviving Akuze, then there's Torfan. A lot of people paint him out to be a badass, but Shepard is just an ordinary man, he's not afraid to admit to certain weaknesses, or at least he hasn't been afraid so far," Kaidan explained.

Michael turned his head away, a small frown crossing his face.

"He always seems so cold to me," He muttered.

"That's only because he has to be Michael, Shepard cant fall into tears when every bad thing happens and he cant spit out a quip or insult people that are higher ranked than him just because he doesn't like them, its not like a video game where he can get away with whatever!"

Kaidan let out a small laugh, though Michael kept on a serious expression.

"What do you think of the man?" He asked.

"Commander Shepard is an N7 Class marine, his command and reputation is well deserved, but at the same time the media fails to see the better qualities in him," Kaidan explained.

"I suppose he wouldn't be all bad," Michael whispered.

"You shouldn't base your opinion entirely off of what you've read about him Michael, there will probably be some time before we find the Professor, Captain Anderson didn't narrow down which system she was in, so this is an opportunity for you to speak with Shepard more," Kaidan threw his towel aside before going back to his Biotic exercises.

"What system are we in by the way?" Michael asked.

"I think it's the Sparta System!"

Michael nodded a thank you before walking out of the room. He noticed Shepard and Ashley by the lockers, putting on their armour. Tali was taking out her shotgun and pistol, clipping the weapons to her suit.

"Shepard, where are you three going?" Michael asked.

"Joker detected a distress beacon on the Planet Elodus, there's no sign of a Prothean ruin but it might be worth checking out the signal," Shepard explained.

"Good luck out there guys," Michael said.

"Don't worry too much Mike, I'm sure we wont need you to come running to save us," Ashley smirked.

Shepard clipped his rifle to his back and walked to the Mako.

"Everyone clear out the launch bay," He ordered.

* * *

Victor Van Damme looked at the Iron Man gauntlet in fascination. He analysed the simplistic circuitry, which was primitive for the current time. Primitive yet powerful, if Victor perfected this technology then he could make Cerberus troopers as powerful as space fighters. It would be the power of a bomb, literally in the palm of his hand. The opened behind him and Victor looked in mild interest at the intruder. He changed his expression to a small grin as Miranda stepped into the room.

"Miranda, good to see you, did you have an itch that needs scratching?" Victor asked.

"Cut the small talk Victor, Miss Chambers wanted your permission to release information to the subjects," Miranda said.

"If it was really so important she could have come to me herself."

"That's what I explained to her, but understandably you've been making yourself seem inapproachable. Fear is a powerful weapon Victor but what does it say when your own staff wont go near you?" Miranda asked.

"That I'm the kind of person they don't want to betray, as for Miss Chambers request tell her to forget it!"

Miranda backed away slightly as Victor looked towards her. He walked closer towards her, his hand drifting towards her cheek. The man stopped as he heard the click of a gun. Miranda pointed her pistol at Victor's stomach, a glare crossing her face.

"Don't, I've told you time and time again Victor, we are over!" She growled.

"I've heard you, but I know you Miranda, you don't believe in compassion or supporting a subordinate out of kindness. You don't have time for incompetence, which is exactly what Chambers has shown by running to you with her problems. Respect is also something you don't give unless people have fought to earn it, well that excludes the Illusive man, whom I rather offended to see you have more respect for than me!" Victor sighed.

"Yes you fought for my respect, and when you got it you decided that respect wasn't enough. You just had to have more, not just my respect but my feeling as well," Miranda said.

"You weren't complaining when we were in bed," Victor smirked.

"I thought we were alike, that you were a good man who simply wanted to help humanity, but then I learnt that you opened Latveria's doors to Asari pharmaceutical firms, rejecting the cheaper offers from human companies. That didn't really matter to me, it just showed that you weren't a hundred percent dedicated to humanity, but then you started talking to him!" Miranda spat out the words as if they were poison.

"I never would have told your father anything about you Miranda, I made business with him with the intention of taking all of his assets. It was a risky move, but I never wanted it to cost us our relationship," Victor said as he soothingly touched Miranda's neck.

Miranda's gun clattered to the floor as she grabbed Victor's shirt. She promptly pulled his lips to hers, aggressively pressing them together. He moved his hands to the zippers of her suit as she tore at his shirt.

"Your right…I do have an itch…this doesn't mean anything!" Miranda spoke between kisses.

She bit at Victor's lip, drawing blood to prove her point. He kissed at her neck, grinning as she pulled his face away, gripping his hair tightly. Victor pulled at Miranda's uniform, folding it down her shoulders, revealing the black lace bra she wore underneath. Miranda pushed Victor to his desk, pulling away his belt.

"Keep telling yourself that Lawson," Victor smiled as she pulled his trousers down.

They didnt sleep on the bed and they weren't gentle with one another. Though this moment reminded Miranda of the many times they had been together years ago. She thought he was a good man back then, and a part of her still felt the attraction she felt for him. But there was one fact that Miranda learnt all to well about Victor Van Damme. He was a man with ideas that could change humanity forever. That was probably why she developed feelings for the man. He was intelligent, handsome, rich, he ran a whole country on Earth yet still made time to serve humanity with Cerberus. These were the things that still attracted Miranda to Victor. Yet Miranda always thought of what happened several years ago. Their relationship had developed to the point where Miranda told Victor about her childhood, about the kind of man her father was. But almost immediately after, Victor formed a business deal with that man, despite Miranda's warnings. She coldly ended their relationship there, feeling betrayed by Victor's actions.

Miranda didnt stay to discuss their relationship further. She looked at herself in the mirror of Victor's bathroom. Straightening out her disrevelled hair, Miranda turned on her Omni-tool. As she made her way out of Victor's bathroom, she noticed that Victor was going through his drawers, picking up ironed clothes. With his back turned, Miranda turned to his computer and installed the spyware she had designed. She only came to him today for two reasons; one to see if their was any hope of them repairing their relationship and two; to install spyware to keep an eye on him. Miranda still didn't know whether she had a future with Victor, but what she did know was that he was a man that warranted caution. Her heart raced as she felt Victor standing behind her. He traced a gentle hand across her neck, he hadnt noticed Mirandan installing the spyware.

"This was just blowing off steam," She whispered.

"Come by whenever you want more, I promise you Miranda, you're the only person who can dominate me like this, " Victor said as he kissed Miranda's neck.

"You'd better hope this doesn't happen again, because next time you'll be screaming on the floor," Miranda grinned before she bit Victor's lip again.

"Tell Miss Chambers I'll authorise her request, and make sure she knows that if she has a problem she should come to me instead of you," Victor explained, picking out spare clothes from his drawers.

"Don't start thinking this is love again Victor, otherwise you'll have an excuse to wear that mask you keep on display," Miranda straightened out her hair and zipped up her uniform.

Victor turned to the mask/helmet inside the display case. His family had ruled Latveria for decades; this iron mask had been a symbol of their power and authority. Miranda saw it as a simple gimmick, but Victor thought of it as so much more. His ancestors wore this mask so that their enemies would know who brought them Doom!

Next Chapter 11: Trap

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chaper, yep Victor Van Damme is an decendant to this reality's Dr Doom, after a very detailed and enlightening review by He Who Sees's I have decided to rewrite this part of the fic, or at least the scene with Miranda and Victor, I've abandonned the sex scene in favour of a description of Miranda's feelings, her lingering attraction to Victor, why she or any other woman for that matter would eb attracted to him, as well as her suspicions about him. Anyway tell me what you thought of the chapter, next time we go to the mission UNC: Missing marines


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

Happy new year everyone, here's another chapter, I did some research for the times Akuze took place, but as for the mission itself there's so little detail about it that I did some original thinking on this one. You might not like why **this **Shepard is a sole survivor, but its for a point, plus I'm writing the story not you :).

Anyway enjoy the chapter

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 11: Trap

**2177**

He sat amongst his fellow marines, a group of fifty men and women all ready for a simple mission. That's at least what Shepard thought of the mission. Contact with a colonial development team on Akuze had been lost. According to earlier studies Akuze was a good place to form a colony, the atmosphere could support life, it had no signs of toxic gases or radiation. It was an untouched world ready to be occupied for humanity. The Systems Alliance was dedicated to advancing human interests in space, protecting humanity and spreading humanities touch to as many worlds as it could. Every marine on the transport joined for their own reasons, some might have been strikingly similar while others could have been vastly different.

"God if this turns out to be some idiot falling asleep on the Comm. then I am not going to be happy," Shepard and the others laughed as Caine added his usual nine cense to the banter.

William "Bill" Caine was five years older than Shepard, but he wasn't higher in rank. It wasn't really a reflection of his capability as a marine; rather it was the disadvantage Bill had of a boring career. He hadn't particularly stood out in comparison to Shepard. Bill was also infamous for his temper, he wasn't afraid to tell someone how to do their jobs.

"For all we know it could just be a standard communication shut down, it wouldn't be the first time it's happened to teams establishing colonies," A red haired marine explained.

Private Reilly was the youngest in the squad. He looked old enough to be accepted for service, but quite a few people, Shepard included knew that he had to be younger. But Shepard didn't mind, Reilly was a good kid; he had come from the streets of London, as rough a place to grow up as New York. Unlike Shepard however Reilly had no criminal record, nothing in his past life that the alliance needed to erase before accepting his application.

Shepard turned his attention to the far end of the transport. He noticed two marines, Wesley and Lucy speaking to one another. Shepard narrowed his eyes slightly as he noticed the affectionate looks they gave one another.

"How long do you think he'll wait to propose?" The marine next to Shepard asked, whispering in Shepard's ear.

"I give them six more weeks, then they'll both lose their careers," Shepard didn't hide his smirk.

"We both know you're envious."

"Of Lucy? Yeah Wesley is certainly "gifted", I fell for him at academy as soon as he slipped his towel off in the showers and whipped my ass with it," Shepard explained.

Corporal Toombs burst into laughter, covering his mouth as the other men looked at him. Toombs shook his head, patting Shepard's shoulder.

"Didn't know you liked it rough Shepard," He whispered.

Shepard coughed, doing his best not to laugh as loud as Toombs had. Toombs was practically his best friend in the unit. They had both figured out Lucy and Wesley's relationship but chose to keep their secret. A strict rule within the Alliance was no fraternization within the ranks. In other words if two marines were sleeping together, one would have to be transferred and in some cases both marines would lose their posts. Shepard knew they were in a relationship, but he hadn't yet seen them physically display that relationship. If he did see them kiss then as superior officer it was his duty to report their misconduct, no matter how much he didn't like it.

"I hope this one doesn't take too long, Shepard still needs to win his money back from me," A blonde haired marine said.

"Oh ah Duke I think I've got some credits here…" Shepard paused as he patted his back, searching the equipment compartments of his armour.

He then promptly flashed his middle finger at the Vegas born blonde. The atmosphere on the transport suddenly got tenser as both marines looked at one another. Their expressions were unreadable, emotionless, to the point where everyone grew nervous over the imminent fight. But much to their surprise and amusement Shepard and Duke chuckled. They banged their fists together, leaning back into their seats.

"Helmets on people, masks too, what do snipers like?" Shepard asked as he put on his helmet.

"Naked heads!" The unit replied in synch as they followed Shepard's actions.

The general rule of the unit was to always go into an unknown situation with helmets on. Shepard walked down the transport walkway, gripping the handles above his head for support. He moved his hands, flashing signs at the pilots to bring the aircraft down. The troop carrier however down towards the construction site for the colony. Shepard walked as soon as the doors opened, marching out of the transport with his unit behind him. He unclipped his assault rifle, motioning for the other 49 marines to follow. There was no banter between them now, only the professional focus expected from marines.

"Move down the rock path, see if we can find anything," Shepard said.

He nodded to Toombs as the unit walked towards the location of the colony.

* * *

Shepard calmly opened his eyes as the lights of the Mako beeped around him. The Normandy had dropped the tank like vehicle on the planet Elodus's surface, mere miles away from the distress beacon. Tali sat in the passenger seat behind Shepard, while Ashley sat at the navigational post next to the Commander. Shepard engaged the Mako's rockets as it fell towards the ground. Elodus was a planet with a sand and rock based surface. Right now it was going through a natural event similar to a desert sand storm. The Mako landed, bouncing the people inside it off their seats. Shepard took control of the Mako, driving it across humps of sand.

"Damn road," Ashley said, as the Mako seemed to constantly bounce on the path.

"Hey Commander, the Doc's gonna be on a better world than this right? Preferably a world that doesn't look like its going through the Apocalypse," Joker said.

"Cut the chatter Joker, a missions a mission!"

On the Normandy, Joker shook his head at the commander's cold approach to his missions. After cutting the line, the pilot wasn't afraid to mock his superior officer.

"Start getting results then you can crack a joke, let me concentrate on my driving," Joker added a grunt to his speech before resting his head. "Like it would improve anyway," He muttered.

Joker flew the Normandy away from the Mako's landing area. The CIC technicians scanned other areas of the planet, looking for natural resources and other things. Numerous requests from the council included turning over any Asari, Turian and Salarian artefacts over to the said governments. Minerals would go to the Alliance while equipment found from lost probes and satellites could be kept by the Normandy. That was the standard outline of any Alliance exploration mission. Michael learnt about it but didn't pay particular attention to a duty he felt was better suited to the Normandy's ship crew.

"So Michael, how have you adjusted to the Normandy?" Chakwas asked.

She and a few other crewmembers were sat in the lounge. The doctor walked over to Kaidan's workstation, holding two coffees for them.

"Pretty well Doctor Chakwas, although I'm still trying to get the hang of this thing Kaidan keeps tapping," Michael said, motioning to the touch screen.

Kaidan's workstation was between Shepard's quarters and the medical bay. He shook his head as he tapped the screen.

"This is an uplink to the ground team and a system I can use to check supply stocks, I can also run tactical simulations with the computer," Kaidan explained.

"So when your standing there tapping it its actually for a reason?"

Chakwas chuckled as Kaidan shook his head again.

"This is a statistics based simulator, no where near as effective as Pinnacle Stations equipment. With this thing you can look up a marine's file, service history (if you have access) and their skill set and limitations. For example my class is Sentinel, a tech and biotic specialist focusing on a balance of team support and enemy sabotage."

"I get it, everyone has a role to play," Michael said.

"Yep, which is why I need to familiarize you with some of the settings available on our guns. You've been training with the style of a regular soldier, an expert in weapons combat. The weapon types Ashley and Shepard use are equipped with several features only their combat roles can have. There are official names to them, but a lot of marines refer to these functions as follows," Kaidan bought up multiple images, showing the weapons that Ashley and Shepard were specialised with.

Michael stepped up to the screen, reading each "skill" and its function.

Overkill: Over coming the overheat limit of the assault rifle, this function allows the wielder to fire their weapon at an increased rate without having to worry about the weapon overheating. Duration is 25 seconds!

Assassination: Increased speed and accuracy with the sniper rifle

Michael scratched his head as he read the other skills. Most of the Soldier class tech included additions to their rifles like Concussion rounds, ammo types and injections of serums to increase the performance of the soldier's themselves. He didn't mind the ammo upgrades, but Michael didn't feel comfortable taking adrenaline to increase the stamina he had worked for years to achieve. Then again his idol Steve Rogers took a serum that amplified his strength and speed beyond the level most athletes worked their whole life to reach.

"Is there something wrong Michael?" Chakwas asked.

"I'm fine," Michael lied as he turned back to the computer.

On the planet's surface, Shepard and his team got closer and closer to the distress beacon. Tali gasped as she saw what was on the path ahead. A beacon was blinking and surrounding the beacon was the bodies of several marines. Shepard could see the state of their bodies from his seat. A shiver ran down his spine as he identified the wounds. Crush marks on the bones, armour and skin melted by a corrosive of some kind. It was all too similar to Akuze. When the ground began to shake, Shepard's fears were confirmed.

"ASHLEY GET ON THE TURRET!" He yelled.

But before Ashley could even react to the order, the ground shook again. Suddenly a worm like creature burst out of the sand, roaring as it extended the barbs and antenna on its head.

"What the hell is that?" Ashley asked.

"Thresher Maw," Shepard said darkly. "Get on the turret now!" He growled.

He swung the Mako round; the wheels threw the sand upwards as Shepard turned the vehicle. Putting his foot down, Shepard drove the Mako as fast as he could. Ashley climbed past Tali and pulled open the ceiling hatch. Sliding down her helmet's faceplate, Ashley looked at the Thresher Maw through the crosshair of the turret. Pulling the trigger, Ashley sent a flurry of bullets flying towards the creature. It roared as the bullets cut past its side.

"I scratched it sir, visibility is low and distance is too much," Ashley said.

"Then lets get closer!" Shepard tugged on the wheel, swinging the Mako around again.

Ashley held onto the turret as tight as she could. Shepard seemed to hit bump after bump on the road as he drove around the Thresher Maw. The worm like creature dived forward, tunnelling under the ground. Shepard slowed the Mako down as he listened for the signs of the Thresher Maw. He could practically hear the creature tunnelling under the ground. Thresher Maw's were beasts driven by natural instincts, feed on whatever was available. They were animals, but intelligent enough to use their tunnelling abilities whenever they could.

"Shepard what's going…"

"Quiet Tali," Shepard snapped.

He increased speed and altered the Mako's path. Swerving to the right, Shepard narrowly missed the Thresher Maw as it burst out of the ground. He then swerved the Mako again, dodging the Thresher Maw's head as it swung its poisoned barbs. The Thresher Maw dragged its barbs across the ground, missing the Mako by inches.

"NOW ASHLEY!" Shepard yelled.

Ashley fired the turrets grenade launcher, hitting the Maw in the head. A chunk of flesh was torn from the Thresher Maw's face, blood spraying onto the ground. Ashley then rolled the turrets minigun, hitting the creature's skin as the Mako drove around it. She kept her finger on the trigger, never resting with the turrets assault.

"Shit," Ashley muttered as the turret stopped firing.

The turret was overheated, giving it only seconds to cool down. Shepard stopped the Mako as the Thresher Maw dived back into the sand. He took a deep breath, calming his pounding heart. As he felt his heart rate slow, he heard the ground collapsing beneath him. The Thresher Maw popped up just beside the Mako. Popping the Mako into reverse, Shepard didn't even both to look at the rear camera screen as he drove backwards. The Thresher Maw opened its mouth, spitting a blob of acid at its prey. It was as if the Thresher Maw's mouth was a cannon as the bullet of acid flew towards the Mako. Shepard rolled the wheel to his right, reversing the Mako mere inches to the left. The acid slammed into the ground, glassing it like fire. Blobs of acid then flew onto the front of the Mako, with a few drops spraying onto the turret.

"SHIT!" Ashley yelled.

She fell back inside the Mako and pulled off her left gauntlet. The armour plating fell apart like paper. Shepard kept his eyes in front as he looked at the Thresher Maw. Revving the Mako's engine, Shepard put on the Mako's hand brake and kicked it to first gear.

"Commander, what are you doing?" Ashley asked.

"Tali, convert all power for kinetic barriers to the front section of the Mako," Shepard ordered.

"Commander Shepard, what are you planning?" Tali asked.

"Time to play a game of chicken!"

Shepard drove the Mako forward, smirking as the two women gasped. He moved the Mako past fifty mph. Keeping one eye on the speed gauge and another on the Thresher Maw, Shepard pushed the Mako to Eighty miles and hour. The Thresher Maw spat acid again, hitting the Mako's kinetic barrier.

"Commander, armour integrity at 40%," Tali said.

Shepard ignored her warning and moved the Mako towards a hill of sand. Using the hill as a ramp and engaging the Mako's vertical thrusters, Shepard launched the Mako at the Maw. The vehicle landed on the Maw's head, driving down its spine. Shepard activated the Mako's thrusters, jumping off the Maw's back.

"Tali, repair the turret so that we can fire the grenade, Ashley be ready to take the wheel when I say so," Shepard explained.

The Thresher Maw burrowed underneath the ground, giving Tali seconds to repair the damage to the turret. She opened a panel on the turret, checking the internal circuitry. The young Quarian didn't even need to activate her Omni-tool as she began crossing broken wires together. Shepard kept driving the Mako forward, ignoring the Thresher Maw's behaviour. It would occasionally burst out of the ground, practically flying across the sand before landing and burrowing again. Ashley felt reminded of the cartoons she watched as a child, watching a worm rush through the numerous holes of an apple. A few sparks emanated from the turret as Tali crossed the wires together.

"Its ready now Shepard," Tali said.

"Ashley, take the wheel," Shepard ordered.

Ashley grabbed the wheel as Shepard bought the vehicle to a stop. He climbed past Ashley, yanking Tali away from the turret. Sliding down his breather mask, Shepard gripped the turret controls and waited. Ashley climbed into the drivers seat, driving the Mako towards the Beacon. The Thresher Maw rose out of the ground, looking at the Mako's backside. Shepard swung the turret around, looking at a spot eight centimetres away from the Maw's right barb. Pulling the trigger, Shepard sent a grenade crashing into the Thresher Maw's eye. The Maw let out an agonising wail, and Shepard used this pain to his advantage. He fired another grenade, hitting the Maw's left barb. Firing one grenade after another, Shepard hit the Maw again and again, eventually blowing off one of its barbs. As the barb crashed into the ground, Shepard aimed for the Maw's eye again. The creature let out one more whine before crashing into the ground. A moment of silence passed as Shepard watched the Maw breath its last breath. Climbing off the Mako, Shepard walked towards the beacon sight.

"Joker, send a message to Alliance command, tell them that A Thresher Maw has been sighted on Elodus, sixteen casualties confirmed, if there are any other bodies then they're killed in action as well," Shepard explained.

"You sure Commander? They might still be out there," Joker said.

"They're dead, take it from someone who knows, if the bodies are missing they were pulled under by the Thresher Maw, no one survives that close to a Thresher Maw!" Shepard closed the line and turned to the Beacon.

He activated his Omni-tool, sliding out the blade. Swinging his arm round, Shepard hacked at the beacon like a lumberjack. Sparks flew out of the cuts as Shepard swung his arm again and again. Dead bodies flashed before his eyes as he heard the screams of those at Akuze. When the Beacon fell, Shepard stopped and felt the sweat running down his head. His heart was pounding again. Everything that happened here was just like Akuze. The one difference was that no one survived.

* * *

Night passed and the marines set up camp. Shepard stood away from the other marines, tapping his Omni-tool. He cursed as static came out of the device. They had reached the site were the colony was but had found no survivors. Whatever had attacked the development team had ripped apart the construction site. Another problem now faced the squad; communications had been cut with the transport.

"SQUAD FALL IN!" Shepard yelled.

The marines began marching to Shepard, picking up their equipment. He did a small head count, so far there were forty-eight squad members. Lucy and Wesley were missing. Walking past the crowd of marines, Shepard made his way to one of the tents. A look of disappointment crossed over his face as he poked his head into one of the tents. Lucy and Wesley pulled their lips away from one another, looking at Shepard in shock.

"I really wish you two were better at keeping a secret," Shepard muttered.

"Sir we can explain…"

"Don't bother," Shepard interrupted Lucy as he walked away from the tent.

Lucy and Wesley rushed out of the tent, catching up with Shepard.

"Sir, please don't write this up in your report," Wesley said.

"Its out of my hands Private," Shepard didn't even turn around as he kept walking.

"But sir, this could mean the end of our careers," Lucy said.

"Should have thought about that before you starting making out like high school children," Shepard said. "I still expect to do your duty, everyone, communications are cut off, I'm leaving to find higher ground to see if it'll change the signal. Duke is in charge until I get back, stay on high alert at all times, there's no guarantee that whatever cleared out the development site wont come back," Shepard explained.

He dismissed his troops, picking up his weapons and the radio. Before he could leave however, Duke stood in his way.

"Shepard, what exactly are you doing?" He asked.

"I could tell you if I knew what you were talking about," Shepard said.

"Lucy and Wesley, they're good marines Shepard, this was a one time slip up that hasn't cost anything, you write about them in your report and you'll be ruining their careers," Duke explained.

"A little overdramatic don't you think, the Alliance is tolerant Duke, the worst they'll get is a transfer!"

"Do you really believe that? Look what the Alliance did to General Williams!"

"You sound as if I should know that name," Shepard sighed.

"The first human officer to surrender to a Turian fleet, you really don't know about him?"

"Knowing history doesn't get me more money," Shepard said dismissively.

"I hope you actually start to learn from the past Shepard, hopefully then you wont repeat those mistakes!"

Shepard shook his head as he walked away from the squad. Walking and climbing his way up the mountain range, Shepard spared no thought over Duke's words. Taking the radio from his back, Shepard extended the antennae and waited for a signal. The range was longer than his Omni-tool, but he still barely had a signal.

"Transport SSV Reliant, can you hear me?" Shepard asked over the radio. "Reliant, this is Commander Shepard do you copy?"

He cursed as he lifted the radio off the ground. As soon as he got back he would request better equipment for future missions. He made his way back to the Camp, thinking of other complaints he would put in his report. As he got closer to the camp, Shepard heard the distant sound of gunfire. Breaking off into a run, the Commander's eyes widened as he heard screams. Running over the hill, Shepard looked at the camp in shock. Four Thresher Maw's had burst out of the ground, wreaking havoc on the camp.

"Oh my god," Shepard gasped.

He had realised too late that the unit had set up camp right in the middle of a Thresher Maw nest.

* * *

The memory still haunted Shepard to this day, though he would never admit it. Sitting in his office, writing up a report on the Elodus mission, Shepard began to reflect on the two units. His unit had been in a worse situation, an impossible situation. While Admiral Kahoku's men were on an open desert range, Shepard's men had been in the middle of an actual nest with hills and mountains cutting off any chance of escape. Some people dared to praise him for his "remarkable will to live", when in actuality the odds had just been in his favour. He had been standing outside the nest, giving him an Eighty percent chance of living. The members of the unit, all of whom were dead centre within the nest had an eighty percent chance of dying. In the end it wasn't will or heroism that enabled him to survive, it was dumb luck.

"It is with deepest regret Admiral Kahoku that I report the death of your platoon," Shepard read a small fragment; rubbing his forehead as he thought of what else he could say.

This was why he preferred Anderson as superior officer. If something went wrong, Anderson would write a report. Shepard hated writing reports; he would rather be back at Torfan as opposed to writing what was pretty much a letter of condolence. A knock at the door drew Shepard's attention away from his computer.

"Come in," He said.

The door slid open, revealing Michael. He lifted his hand to his head, saluting the Commander.

"Drop that shit son, your not officially a marine so you don't need to stand to attention all the time," Shepard said.

"Its sort of a respect thing sir," Michael said.

Shepard chuckled, shaking his head as he waved for Michael to come in. Michael looked around the room, tempted to whistle at how cosy everything looked. As expected the room was spotless, everything was folded neatly. Basically the room looked like it was from a marine training manual.

"Like the place?" Shepard asked, noticing Michael's awe. "The room was originally Captain Anderson's, if not for being a Spectre I would have had to work another five years to get an office like this, including the extra responsibilities that come with it," He explained, motioning to the console.

"Miss Williams told me everything that happened sir, are we going to do anything to look into these marine's deaths?" Michael asked.

"No, this has nothing to do with our current mission, rest assured Admiral Kahoku will get to the bottom of it. Before Akuze my unit and I participated in numerous training missions with him back when he was a Captain, he's a very competent soldier, and rumour says he's a good investigator as well," Shepard explained.

"So we're back to searching for the Doctor, or is it Professor?" Michael scratched his head in confusion.

Shepard snorted while Michael sheepishly chuckled.

"You want to know something funny Michael?" Shepard asked.

"Sure go ahead and tell me!"

"Thresher Maw's aren't native to Akuze or Elodus," Shepard turned his head to the computer and began typing more into his report. "Two marine units, sent to investigate a distress beacon and then all are killed by a Thresher Maw. I believe that no matter how impossible a similarity may be that they are linked in some way, there are no coincidences to me Mr Van Patrick. But unfortunately this has nothing to do with my current mission, so I have to leave it to others!"

"Being a Spectre gives you the authority to carry out whatever mission you like, to route out illegal action and conspiracy wherever you might find them!" Michael said.

"After we've found the Asari, next time we go ground side I want you on the team, but for now I want you to go and help Garrus, he's making some modifications to the Mako. He told me he's adding a remote control to the Turret so we can shoot the gun without a gunner!" Shepard explained.

"I bet Ashley would appreciate that," Michael chuckled.

The Spectre smiled as he sent the report.

"Go on Mr Van Patrick, consider this an order," Shepard said.

"Yes sir," Michael smiled as he saluted Shepard.

He walked out of Shepard's office, leaving the man alone with his computer. Putting a disc into the computer, Shepard opened up a file. It was a document containing the report he wrote to the brass after Akuze. He had included usual equipment and Intel complaints, but one thing Shepard always focused on was what he said about his men.

_Every member of my unit deserves a posthumous promotion and medal for their courage in the field and devotion to the Alliance. In particular I recommend Marines Wesley Dodds and Luciana Wells for the Medal of Devotion, in recognition of their outstanding professionalism on the field and commitment to their duties. I believe these two marines in particular represent the conduct all marines must follow!_

Closing the document, Shepard switched the computer off and walked out of his office. He made his way to the cargo deck. Michael was working with Garrus, who was teaching him about the Mako and its design. Seeing Ashley working at her desk, Shepard made his way over to her. She placed the rifle she was fixing on the workbench and turned to Shepard.

"Skipper," She said.

"Chief, you did well out there today, I remember the complaints you had earlier, did you have anything else to say?" Shepard asked.

"No sir, Tali actually did pretty well out there, I can see now why you let her on board. I trust your decisions Skipper, you tell me to jump I'll ask how high, you tell me to kiss a Turian and I'll ask which cheek!"

Shepard snorted, trying to contain his urge to laugh. It was a sentiment Ashley shared as she hid her smile.

"Hopefully it wont come to that Williams, talk to you again some time," Shepard said.

"Looking forward to it Skipper," She nodded.

* * *

**Project Dimension Facility**

Victor stood at the centre of the control room. He kept his eyes on the subject lying inside the magnetic chamber. Wilson stood in one the chairs, tapping buttons on the computer, just as the other workers did. The subject was unconscious, with numerous straps holding him down. Several Cerberus troopers also stood in the room, led by one Kai Leng. He was wearing a Cerberus breastplate, goggles with bone like gloves on his hands. Victor thought of the man as a xenophobic thug, and an arrogant one at that. Victor tapped on the microphone, catching everyone's attention.

"Keep your weapons trained on him at all times, Wilson start the machine," Victor said.

"Lets see how good he is without that metal on his bones," Wilson smirked.

"Begin extraction of the metal!"

Next Chapter 12: Caged Animal

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, I wanted to establish a difference between the Shepard at Akuze and the Shepard now, he was younger then with different ideals and a more black and white look at his career. But also I wanted to give a little depth to his past. I'll explore how Shepard dealt with Akuze in more detail in later chapters.

Next up is a focus on Project Dimension and one specific prisoner. Cerberus will learn that even without Adamantium, Wolverine's still the best there is!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

Hey everybody, the last two chapters may not have been up to the standards everyone was expecting, but at least people read them so i always think of that as a good thing at least. Now this chater is shorter than other ones cause it focuses on one character, or one area with just a little bit of Liara at the end.

I've tried Monologues before, but none as long as this one. I took the idea of this monologue from one Wolverine had in Prelude to Schism, particularly one of the quotes (which I think sums Wolverine as a character up completely, besides his signature quote). Now here we are with the next exciting chapter, enjoy!

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 12: Caged Animal

_You tell yourself something enough then you start to believe it. For example if you always say that you're going to fail there's a good chance you'll never succeed. If you tell yourself your gonna win, then you better be prepared to work your ass off and back up that confidence. But it doesn't always work like that. People always used to say I was a weak kid, a burden to everyone around me. My grandfather said that I needed an example, a "firm but fair" punishment. He'd keep saying those words as if they justified every decision his cruel mind made. Sure he believed it, but everyone else, our servants and my father didn't. People said I was weak, a stupid kid that would just be a burden. But they were wrong I was anything but weak._

_I still remember the feeling of my claws popping out of my knuckles for the first time. Blood was everywhere; my friend Rose was worried that my wounds would never heal. Popping out bone claws is a lot messier and more painful than metal. The Adamantium always makes a quick, clean cut; bone however needs a little more work. After that night when I first popped my claws my grandfather refused to help, called me an animal and paid just enough to get me and Rose out of the country, out of his hair. We ended up going to an old mining town; a place filled with people that were trying to put bread on the table through hard, honest labour. They saw me as just a little kid that would be a burden to them. But they were wrong I refused to believe that._

_As I grew up people still called me little. They called me a "Wolverine" and every time I'd get into a fight they'd use a term I've come to like in my life:_

_It ain't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog_

_I've always liked that saying. They said it so much I eventually started to believe it. I've gone up against bigger, hell better organisations that this "Cerberus" bunch. They think I can't hear them talking about humanity first or how much of an animal they think I am. Well its not the first time people's assumptions about me have been wrong. Their sedation methods seem better than my Earths, so that means their technology is more advanced. But its nothing I can't handle._

_Weapon X tried to turn me into their puppet, told me I was an animal. That Doctor…Cornelius I think his name was would talk into a speaker. He'd tried to brain wash me by telling me something so much that I might believe it. You tell yourself your a monster then there's a good chance you'll never be a better person, tell yourself your doing what's right, what's necessary and maybe you'll believe it, but it wont make it true. These Cerberus guys may think what they do is necessary, but right now alls I'm seeing are fancier dressed versions of myself. Weapon X tried to turn me into an animal and I didn't listen and ever since then people have been calling me animal. They called me an animal before they knew me, called me animal when I was part of their "worlds greatest heroes", called me an animal when I was brainwashed and hell they even called me animal when I helped save the world._

_The humming of the machines above me snaps me out of my unconsciousness. Magnets of some kind, highly advanced, further strengthening the possibility that we might be in the future, or perhaps an alternate realities future. I've endured a lot of pain, both from my body and my mind. There are at least five instances where I can remember the agonising pain, pain so great that it felt like I'd never recover, even without a healing factor._

_There was the first time I popped my claws, killed the man that may have been my real father. Then years later I popped my claws again, I still remember Rose's face as she tripped and fell on my claws. Weapon X is still fresh in my mind; they tested my Healing factor and invaded the sanctity of my own mind with their brainwashing techniques. Fourth was my fight with the Hulk, yeah the big green angry guy. He was kind of like me, they called him a monster and sometimes he believed it. His punches shook my organs even with my Adamantium. Finally there came Magneto, then he ripped the Adamantium from my body, a pain I'm now re experiencing._

_I yelled inside the tank, the magnets are altering the metal inside me so that the tubes can draw it out. Don't ask me to explain it fully, science isn't my strong point, hell you should all know that by now. Its not just the physical pain, it feels like I'm gonna die, heartbeats getting weaker…GAAAAGH! I can feel it all, see it all._

"_HULK SMASH!" He's standing over me, hitting me again and again._

"_James!" She's lying there, impaled by my own claws._

"_What are you?" My own mother can't look at me._

_"Being a man disgusts you. Individuality leads to suffering and death. You are not a man!"_ _That guy with the glasses, god his voice is annoying._

"_We are all but bit players in a tragedy far larger than any of us, a tragedy called life Logan!" Magneto's ranting as he rips the Adamantium out of me._

_I didn't scream the first time, didn't have time to, now all I can do is scream as the metal is altered, turned into liquid and sucked in through the tubes they've got connected to me. Damn it…my heartbeats getting slower, losing consciousness, feel too weak. The men on the other side of the glass are talking; I can hear them through the radios of the guards._

"_Incredible, even after all that he's still alive," The bald guy, Wilson I think his name is speaks with an enthusiasm his colleagues don't share._

"_I'm more interested in the element Wilson, that metal on his bones," The Director says._

"_You can't possibly be thinking of putting it in one of our soldiers could you? Small amounts probably but the entire skeleton would kill an ordinary man, this guy's healing factor was the only thing that held back the toxic effect."_

"_Of course not, by studying the metal we could perhaps find a way to produce more of it, or a good substitute at least, the weapons and armour of Cerberus will be stronger than ever."_

"_What about the original bearer, this guy, what do you want to do with him?"_

_The director paused and I can hear him pacing across the room._

"_With the metal on his skull gone, we can carry out surgery on his brain, I don't think Lawson will mind us stealing the idea of a control chip."_

"_You've got her control chip plans, how did you get your hands on those?"_

"_The point still stands, get him out of that chamber and onto the table, by this time tomorrow that man will be doing exactly what we want without question."_

"_Our own little pet," Wilson chuckles._

_Wait…they're going to try it, try to control me. No, I wont let them, I refuse, I REFUSE!_

* * *

Wilson turned his head to the display in shock as the subjects heart rate increased.

"I think he heard you," Victor muttered.

"Impossible, there's no way his hearing could be that good," Wilson stepped away from the screen in panic.

Kai Leng and his men looked at the chamber in confusion as Logan began thrashing around. The wires and tubes popped out of his body, his healing factor effectively purging them. His claws pushed against his skin, forcing their way out. He threw his head forward, roaring as he leapt out of the water. Victor looked at the man in intrigue. If it was even possible, the purge of the metal made the man look even more feral.

"Not Animal!" Logan growled.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!" Kai Leng yelled.

Logan jumped at Kai Leng, bullets flying into his skin. His feral state helped him fight the pain from the bullets. Kai Leng rolled to the side, firing a shotgun into Logan's head. The shot separated half of Logan's jaw, causing him to fall back to the floor.

"So much for that," Kai Leng whistled.

He walked past his men as they moved to secure the subjects body.

"Next time, try giving me a challenge," Kai Leng said.

A sudden banging sound drew Kai Leng's attention away from the glass. He turned around, his eyes wide in horror as his mena each fell to the ground. Logan pulled his claws out of one of the men's throats, his jaw reconnecting to his head.

"Fascinating: His healing factors speed has increased," Victor said.

Logan lunged forward; barely dodging Kai Leng's shot gun blast. He stabbed his claw into the operative's forearm, causing him to drop his gun. Grabbing the combat knife on Kai Leng's belt, Logan took Kai Leng's left hand and crossed it over to his right shoulder.

"You want a challenge bub? Here's one for you!"

In one fluid motion, Wolverine stabbed the blade into Kai Leng's hand and through his shoulder.

"The blades gone right through, try pulling it out without cutting an artery," Logan said as he pushed Kai Leng head first into the ground.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kai Leng asked.

"Best there is at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice," Logan grinned, grabbing Kai Leng's shotgun.

He knew enough about weapons to know how to use one. Whether it was a weapon of the past or a weapon of the future, Logan was a quick study. He fired at the glass multiple times. There was no ammo display, just a bar that must have portrayed heat. These weapons were based on heat. Taking the shotgun and rushing towards the door, Logan shot down anyone in his way.

"We need a medic in the Bio wing now," Wilson spoke into the speaker.

"Belay that order, all non-combat personal within the Bio-wing go to high alert, security make your way to test chamber X!" Victor ordered.

"Director, we need to lock down the whole station," Wilson said.

"No, we lockdown the whole station and we'll tip off the other subjects, they'll get hopeful and attempt their own escapes, send a message to the prison wing, have them got on high alert but don't tip off the prisoners," Victor explained.

Logan ran down the hallway of what he learnt was called the Bio-wing. Cerberus troopers appeared at the end of the hallway. Taking a right turn, Logan rushed into one of the labs. He roared, clearing out the obviously civilian scientists. Though he refused to let others call him animal, he did sometimes enjoy the advantage it gave him. He grabbed a glass of chemicals and an extinguisher off the wall. As soon as the door opened, Logan threw the chemicals, spraying the first guard that entered with acid that burnt through his armour. Then he threw the extinguisher, knocking the guard into his friends. Future or not, extinguishers were still close to explosives.

* * *

Wilson jumped in horror as he heard an explosion down the hallway. He and Victor walked to the security room. Victor pulled one of the usual staff members off his seat and looked at the cameras. Wolverine was no doubt a professional, but he was no marksman. Victor then narrowed his eyes as Wolverine moved out of his cover, firing continuous shots at the soldier's in cover. Then he threw his shotgun away and engaged the guards at close range, without his claws. He displayed a great deal of martial arts moves that had long been abandoned on Earth, as well as standard marine fighting techniques.

"Oh my god," Wilson gasped.

Wolverine bent a guard's arm back and punched him across the face. Grabbing another soldier's neck, Logan curled his leg behind the guard's and threw him head first to the ground. He immediately grabbed the man's assault rifle, shooting another squad of soldier's that approached him. Despite not being as good a marksman as Hawkeye, Logan still had enough experience with guns to make his shots matter. Throwing the overheated weapon to the ground, Logan popped out his claws and ran down the corridor. He took shots to his belly, feeling the bullets rip his bone. Even though he didn't have on his bones, his healing factor more than made up for it. Slashing a soldier across the face, Logan pushed the man aside and stabbed another soldier in the gut. He could feel a barrier of some kind pushing against his claws, but in the end the human muscle overcame futuristic technology.

'I will escape,' He thought to himself.

He stayed confident, with just enough caution to not let him get weighed down by the possibility of capture. Breaking off into a run, Logan memorised the layout of the map just enough to know about the one place he needed to get to.

"I want Biotics and riot guards at all Bio-wing exits now," Victor said.

The director walked down the corridor of the Bio-wing, making his way to the prison ward.

"Is security covering all entry points?" He asked the guard in charge.

"Yes sir, I have men with riot shields and mini turrets covering those areas," The guard said.

"Should I contact Lawson or the Illusive man?" Wilson asked.

"No, they don't need to know, we keep this as quiet as possible," Victor said.

"But sir, we need to plan for the worst case scenario!"

"There won't be a worst case scenario!" Victor growled.

Wolverine stopped running as he saw several Cerberus soldiers approaching him. Four were armed with riot shields of some kind and Submachine guns. Three were glowing blue for some strange reason.

"Fuck it," Logan shrugged.

He broke off into a run, taking several bullets and jumping over the riot shield wielders. Kicking the man in the back, Logan then grabbed one of the men in front. Suddenly, he felt an immense pain in his body and a feeling of nausea. Falling to the floor, Logan puked for the first time in years. A blue aura suddenly surrounded him as he was thrown against the wall. Once, then twice and then a third time for good measure. He felt his spine shatter, and for a moment he couldn't feel his legs. But then he felt his legs shaking, screaming as if the bones there had shattered as well.

"We can do this all day asshole," One of the soldiers said, drawing a baton from his belt.

Electricity ran down the weapon as the Biotic's charged warps in their hand. Logan took a deep breath, clicking his neck to the left and right. His healing factor did its work; repairing whatever damages those people had done to his body and organs.

'I will escape,' He growled

He popped out his claws and let out a furious roar. Jumping to his feet, Wolverine slit one of the guard's throats. He ducked as the Biotic threw the Warp, frying the camera behind Logan. Ramming his claws through the gap in the shield, Wolverine stabbed one of the soldier's in the eye. Jumping over that man, Logan then thrust his claws into one of the Biotic's. He took a Warp to the chest, yelling as his blood spread across the floor. Fighting through the pain, Logan beheaded the soldier and stabbed the man beside him on the throat. Sliding his claws back in, Logan grabbed the final soldier's neck. They struggled, slamming one another against the walls. Finally, Logan heard a hissing sound and ripped off the soldier's helmet. Knocking the man to the ground. The soldier activated his Omni-tool, throwing an incineration blast into Logan.

"Didn't think that would stop me did you?" Logan asked as he grappled with the soldier.

Logan grabbed the barrel of the guard's shotgun. He fought against the soldier, bringing the shotgun barrel towards the man's face.

Victor and Wilson walked back through the Bio-wing, taking note of the dead bodies set out through the facility. The subject had practically led a trail of breadcrumbs to section B, the area where the surveillance camera was destroyed. Wilson breathed a sigh of relief as they saw where the trail ended. A guard was sitting on the ground, tightening the seal of his helmet and panting as if he'd ran a marathon. The other security teams walked past Victor and Wilson, rallying around the naked body on the floor. His brains had been blown out by the soldier's shotgun, leaving bone and blood across the floor.

"See Wilson, I told you there was no reason to lock the whole facility down, its just unfortunate that the subject cant be controlled, salvage what you can from its remains," Victor said.

The director stepped on the dead body, looking it over. Destroying the brain would certainly shut down the rest of the bodies healing factor, unless the subject's healing factor was stronger than they anticipated. Victor scratched his chin and widened his eyes in realisation. A smirk crossed his face as he looked behind him. The guard that had killed the "subject" had promptly disappeared. But the subject's body seemed strange; there was less hair on it.

"On second thought…"Victor mused.

He slowly activated his Omni-tool, accessing one of his custom tech-abilities.

"We already have enough samples," He said, setting the body alight.

Wilson was idiotic enough to take him at his word. Victor resisted the urge to laugh. It seemed that this "Wolverine" was less of an animal then people thought.

'The best there is indeed, he'll come in handy someday,' Victor thought.

* * *

He resisted the urge to laugh as he took a seat on the shuttle. People had been talking and saying that they were being transferred to some place called "the Citadel" for a deep cover operation. That meant at some point he would have to ditch the armour. For a supposedly powerful organisation the operatives seemed rather relaxed. Even the other soldiers, still in their armour sat back and relaxed as the shuttle moved towards the gate. It took him a while to find a shuttle, and he was a little apprehensive about taking one. But anywhere was better than here.

"Two hours before we reach the Mass Relay, there will then be a hour gap before reaching the Citadel, everyone in combat gear will have thirty minutes to change into civilian gear before we land," A black haired woman explained, coldly addressing the crew.

She was very attractive despite the cold attitude. Several men agreed with him as they watched her walk past them.

"God I would love to get a piece of Operative Lawson's ass," The man sitting next to him said.

"Her ass? Bub I hope thats not all your looking at," Logan grinned behind his disguise

_You tell yourself something enough then there's a good chance it'll happen. I said I'd escape and I did, I'll find someway to save the others, even if it means getting outside help. Cerberus can't be legal, there has to be someone on the Citadel that's willing to do something about them. Wait for me guys; I'll be back with some help._

* * *

She resisted the urge to laugh at her situation. Laughing was the last thing she could do. After all it was counterproductive because this really wasn't a situation to laugh about. It wasn't humorous at all and losing her mind was the last thing she wanted to happen. She hadn't started hallucinating yet so that was a good sign. Unless the Geth invading the ruins really was an illusion and she had finally lost her mind. So many people ridiculed her research into the Prothean extinction; the fact that she'd probably lost her mind would add insult to injury over the fact that she'd trapped herself in a Prothean Barrier curtain. Liara sighed at the day she was having. First her time here was claiming no new results; her equipment had been shut down by some odd energy surge over the region, the Geth had come and forced her to take shelter in the mines. Now she was stuck in the barrier, floating off the ground with Geth and a Krogan Warlord searching for her.

"Goddess, I do hope someone comes soon…now I'm talking to myself," Liara sighed.

The mine suddenly shook and Liara widened her eyes. She silently prayed to the Goddess, hoping it was a Geth fleet bombarding the ruins. A grunting sound echoed through the hallways, followed by the tearing of metal. Liara blinked in confusion as a Geth head was thrown onto the platform facing her "cell". Her confusion increased two fold as the monster that ripped the Geth apart jumped onto the platform.

"Hmmm, Hulk not know how he got here, does pretty blue lady know?" The creature asked her.

Now Liara really felt like she was going crazy. A human bigger than a Krogan was pushing it, but green skin?

Next Chapter 13: Therum

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, Victor hasnt alerted the Illusive man yet because he thinks Logan will help his plans somehow. What are his plans? You'll have to read to find out.

I took the idea of Logan being a bit more feral from how he was portrayed after Magneto tore his adamantium out. Some artists even drew him a little more animalistic than he was before. As for the Hulk, well I thought he'd be a very interesting addition to the crossover, I've got this great scene planned where Liara frustrates Hulk even more by calling him a mirage.

Next time Shepard and his crew arrive on Therum and are shocked to see the Hulk, but the Hulk isn't the monster they all think

Thanks for reading, tell me what you thought of the chapter


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel or Mass Effect

Finally after a long wait, Mass Effect 3 is here, been playing it over the past few days and already I've gotten some new ideas for the future of this fic and others

Anyway enjoy the update

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 13: Therum

It had taken some time, but the Normandy had finally found the planet where Doctor T'Soni would be located. Therum, a planet of rock and lava but an atmosphere identical to Earth. While the rest of the planet was desolate there was one region where a structure had been set up. It was a Prothean ruin that was currently being excavated by T'Soni's team. The Normandy flew over the region, opening its cargo hatch as it neared the landing point. Michael sat in the back of the Mako, looking over his rifle as Shepard ran through the Mako's activation sequence.

"Hey Commander, I've been getting some strange readings, like off the damn charts," Joker said.

"Keep me posted Joker, we'll maintain radio contact but keep out of site, if enemy ships show up we want to surprise them," Shepard explained.

"Sure thing commander, good luck!"

The Normandy swooped over the landing zone, dropping the Mako. Shepard turned on the landing rockets, landing the Mako relatively softly on the ground. The path to the Prothean Ruins was a bumpy road and according to earlier scans, there were two checkpoints set up before the ruins. Garrus looked at the sight of his rifle while Wrex clicked his fists together. Shepard drove the Mako down the path, keeping one eye on the road and another on the radar. Michael looked at the screens showing the Mako's external cameras.

"Geth ship overhead," he said.

"Lets see if that turret upgrade works," Wrex turned to the gunnery station, moving the turret around as a test.

"Don't shoot at the ship let it go, Joker keep your eyes out for a Geth drop ship, if it persists in its flight path or shows any signs of bombing then shoot it down," Shepard explained.

"Yes sir!"

The Geth drop ship opened a hatch on the hull, dropping a pod towards the ground. Wrex armed the turret, targeting the pod as it shaped into a Geth Colossus. As the Colossus charged the main gun on its eyepiece, Wrex began firing the cannon. The turret gun rolled, sending a barrage of bullets flying into the Colossus. Michael was about to suggest using the grenade launcher, but before he could even speak Wrex fired it first. The explosion pushed the Colossus back slightly, before a second shot toppled it completely. Wrex chuckled slightly as he fired a third grenade that blew the Colossus up. Shepard drove on, through the narrow rocky pathways that led to the research checkpoint.

"We should probably keep an eye out for other possible survivors," Michael said.

"Not really necessary considering T'Soni is the only researcher," Shepard shrugged, the Mako shook slightly, causing Garrus to clutch his armrests.

"Wait, this lady researchers whole ruins on her own, without help?" Michael asked.

"Pretty convenient if you ask me, she doesn't need to worry about any staff reporting her connection to Saren," Wrex said.

"We don't know for sure whether she's working for Saren, though its safe to be cautious," Shepard said.

He pulled the Mako to a stop as they approached the first checkpoint. The checkpoint's protection was a narrow road with automated turrets built into the rock, fortifying the door.

"Going in through the front door is suicide," Garrus said.

"The Turian's right, only an idiot punches a feral Varren in the jaw, go around and yank its tail," Wrex explained.

"You have an interesting way of suggesting a sneak attack Wrex," Shepard muttered.

Shepard activated the Mako's vertical thrusters, narrowly "jumping" over a missile fired by one of the turrets. Twisting the steering wheel, Shepard dodged two more missiles before driving the Mako up one of the rock formations. The Mako drove up the hill and down into a road leading towards the inside of the checkpoint. Beams suddenly flew into the Mako, scratching the armour. Geth Troopers began creeping out of cover, firing their weapons at the Mako. Two Geth folded rocket launchers out of their backs and began hitting the Mako's shields. Wrex didn't need Shepard's order to start firing. He fired the grenade launcher, hitting several containment cells. The resulting explosion disintegrated some of the troopers and threw the crates into the massive hulking Geth Primes. Shepard accelerated, ploughing through two Geth and squashing several more.

"Weapons out people, clear out the bunkers and watch out for equipment," Shepard ordered.

Michael drew his assault rifle as Garrus opened the hatch. Wrex eagerly pushed past Michael, climbing out of the Mako. His body glowed as he used his Biotic's. With a roar, Wrex lifted a Geth Prime into the air. He then pulled out his shotgun and ran to cover. Garrus took over control of the Mako's turret, firing at the Geth coming out of the bunker nearest to the checkpoint entry gate. Michael and Shepard climbed out of the Mako, both wielding assault rifles. They ran to cover, watching as Wrex charged a Geth trooper head on. He picked the trooper up, slamming it into the wall so hard that its head shattered.

"Support Wrex and clear out the bunker, I'll get the next gate open," Shepard said.

He collapsed his rifle, putting it on his back as his Omni-tool glowed. Shepard then drew a pistol, activating his Omni-blade. He sprinted towards the gate, diving for cover as a Geth rocket trooper fired its missile launcher. The missile harmlessly flew over Shepard, slamming into a wall inches from the Mako. Michael peeked out of cover, watching as Shepard rolled away from his cover. He fired the Carnifex hand cannon, piercing the rocket trooper's head. Then he rolled back to cover, shifting to a prone position. Suddenly the commander threw his hand out to the edge of his cover. He grabbed and flipped over an invisible enemy, stabbing his Omni-blade into its chest. The destroyed Geth hunter appeared at Shepard's feet, its chest sparking as artificial blood leaked onto the ground.

'Wow, he is good, okay focus MVP,' Michael thought.

Tightening the grip on his rifle, Michael sprinted to the bunker Wrex was clearing out. He slid into cover beside Wrex, avoiding a Shock troopers missile launcher.

"Use your biotics to make a barrier," Michael suggested.

"Biotics take time to focus, and I've never been any good at curving them around corners," Wrex said.

"You can curve them around corners?"

"FOCUS KID!"

A bullet whizzed past Michael's head as Wrex pushed him ass first into the ground.

"Keep your head low, I'll charge out and hit them head on," Wrex said.

"Against a missile launcher, don't be ridiculous, we take them out from a distance," Michael said as he primed one of his grenades.

Taking a deep breath, Michael threw the grenade against the wall. The disc shaped object bounced off of the wall, around the cover the two Geth troopers used and landed right at their feet. Both Geth troopers widened their "flash lights" before the grenade blew up.

"Nice throw kid, now lets see what's worth salvaging in here," Wrex said as he walked to where the Geth had once stood.

Wrex unceremoniously bashed the lock on the footlocker they found. Forcing the locker open, Wrex pulled out a shotgun and pocketed the credits.

"Eviscerator, here, consider it a first victory gift," Wrex tossed the shotgun to Michael.

The young man caught the shotgun, looking over the unique weapon. He noticed that the barrel was narrower than the other shotguns, perhaps suggesting a better range. Michael wasn't a big expert on guns so he didn't claim to have any great knowledge.

"Thanks Wrex," Michael said, smiling.

Wrex shook his head, shoving past the human. Meanwhile Shepard rolled into the bunker by the gate. He immediately shot the shock trooper in front of him, then thrust his Omni-blade into a Geth troopers chest. Shepard used the trooper as a shield, blocking several Geth pulse rifle beams before he shot the two troopers in the head. Throwing the Geth aside, Shepard then moved to the gate control. He tapped the buttons, deactivating the turrets on the other side and opening the door. Putting a hand to his ear, Sheoard then contacted the rest of the team.

"Garrus, drive the Mako up to gate, Michael and Wrex you both meet us there, double time people," He said.

They needed to be quick, because if T'Soni wasn't working for Saren then she was obviously a target. If she had knowledge of the conduit then Sarent would capture her, if not she would be another casualty. Shepard wasn't about to let that happen.

"Nice shotgun Van Patrick, be careful though you'll only get three shots before it overheats," Shepard hid a grin as Michael looked at his new shotgun and then at Wrex.

"Were you going to tell me its limits before or after another engagement," Michael said, pointing an accusing finger at Wrex.

"I didn't need a small unreliable gun like that, one shot is all a Claymore needs," Wrex laughed.

"Except the Claymore is crap at long range, the Eviscerator has a good firing range for a shotgun, I personally prefer a good old fashioned scoped weapon, accuracy over fire power!" Garrus explained.

"Everyone get ready to disembark, the Mako cant get through the next corridor," Shepard said.

The Mako stopped at a series of rocks, all gathered together in groups, with a small gap in the middle. Shepard climbed out of the Mako, folding out his Avenger rifle. He took point, with the rest of his squad following him.

"Geth incoming," Shepard warned, getting to the cover of a rock.

Michael crouched in cover while Wrex and Garrus aimed their assault rifles. The Turian and Krogan opened fire, hitting the approaching Geth forces. Shepard fired his rifle, hitting a rocket trooper. Then he pointed his finger at the Geth prime. Garrus and Wrex focused their firing on the Prime, destroying its shields. Michael and Shepard added to the flurry of rounds, hitting the Prime until it collapsed. Shepard then moved his hands, signalling for Wrex and Garrus to go forward. With Wrex at the right and Garrus at the left, Shepard and Michael moved down the middle. They walked around a giant rock, spotting several watch towers. Shepard immediately raised his hand, halting their advance.

"Snipers," He said.

"I can draw their fire," Michael pulled out his shotgun.

"No, Wrex activate your barriers and move towards the Geth forces, Garrus draw your sniper rifle and hit the Geth snipers, then pick off the Troopers coming down that hill. We'll follow behind you Wrex, provide us with a shield but get to cover if your barrier starts to wane," Shepard explained.

"Good plan Shepard, then again any plan that has a Krogan at the front is a good one," Wrex grinned, drawing his shotgun.

Michael collapsed his shotgun and went back to his assault rifle. Shepard patted Wrex's back, giving the signal to move out. Wrex surrounded himself with a biotic barrier, running down into the Geth formation. He fired his shotgun, knocking back one Geth after another. Garrus pulled out his Mantis, aiming at the first watchtower. He shot down the sniper, knocking it off the tower. Quickly moving his sight towards the Geth on the next watchtower, Garrus waited for his gun to cool, remaining calm even as the Geth sniper targeted Wrex. Finally Garrus fired, hitting the Geth in the side of the head. Wrex fired several more slugs from his shotgun, before moving onto his pistol. He, Shepard and Michael fired at the Geth coming down the hill, while Garrus sniped the stragglers behind cover. When the last Geth went down, Shepard moved to the front and led the squad up the hill. They walked to what appeared to be the entrance to the dig site. Shepard lowered his rifle, taken aback by what he saw.

"Are you sure the Asari doesn't have a whole army with her Shepard?" Wrex asked.

Several Geth, including a Colossus were laid out across the floor, smashed into the ground or torn apart.

"What the hell happened here?" Garrus voiced everyone's thoughts exactly.

"Look up at that walkway, the doors been torn open," Shepard said, point to the bridge leading to the ruins top entrance.

"Professor T'Soni's still in danger, we should hurry up and extract her," Garrus said.

Shepard nodded his head, moving to the ruins lower entrance.

"My guts telling me that there's something a lot worse than Geth here," Wrex said.

The door to the ruin opened and the team walked down a narrow underground corridor. Whatever the ruin had been before was unknown. What was known was that thousands of years had encased the Prothean building in rock; effectively making it part of one of Therum's many volcanic structures. Fortunately the volcano was inactive and despite the years some of the Prothean technology was still salvageable. Shepard and the team walked down the underground corridor and stopped in their tracks as a sound echoed through the ruins. Michael widened his eyes, recognising the roar from the Avengers archives.

"Impossible," He whispered.

"What's wrong Van Patrick?" Garrus asked.

"Nothing, lets just get T'Soni and get out of here," Michael said.

When the others walked in front, Michael wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead. The future was bad enough, but if the Hulk was here then that complicated matters entirely. As the squad moved deeper into the ruins, they saw more and more trashed Geth. They then happened upon a tower like structure with multiple blue barriers decorating its surface. Shepard pointed to the elevator built to the side of the structure and immediately led the squad forward. Suddenly, two Geth drones floated out of their hiding places. Shepard pushed Michael to cover and fired his rifle at the drone on the right.

"WREX USE WARP ON THE DRONE I'M SHOOTING! GARRUS YOU OVERLOAD THE SECOND ONE!" He yelled.

Garrus activated the tech on his Omni-tool, overloading one of the drones and blowing it up. Wrex fired a Warp blast, weakening the armour of the drone Shepard was shooting. Shepard continued firing at the drone, knocking it out of the sky and sending it crashing into the Prothean structure. Michael stepped out of cover, aiming a glare at Shepard.

"I could have helped," Michael said.

"Tell that to your predecessor Van Patrick, Jenkins's shields were ripped apart by those things, your shields are at the same level of strength," Shepard explained.

"We don't have time for this, come on let's get the Asari and leave," Wrex said.

"Scared Wrex?" Garrus asked.

"Cautious Vakarian, whatever's down here making that sound isn't something I'd like to face head on. I don't shy away from a fight but there's a difference between courage and stupidity," Wrex explained.

"Whatever it is I think we're about to find out," Shepard said, pushing the button to send the elevator down.

Michael stepped back in shock as he saw what was waiting at the bottom floor. It was the Hulk making those sounds.

"What is that thing?" Garrus asked.

"Looks human, at least in terms of the body shape, never seen a green human though," Shepard said.

The Hulk paced around, growling as he looked between the Prothean Barrier curtain and the rest of the ruins.

"Hulk just wanted to be alone, but Hulk always unlucky, big portal thing sends Hulk to fiery rocky planet, Hulk find ugly flash light heads then get stuck in ruins. And worst of all Hulk have to put up with annoying blue girl," Hulk explained, his voice gruff and fierce, exactly as Michael remembered from the archives at Hammond.

"Excuse me, I know I cant really control my hallucinations, but could you try to be more quiet," A gentle and soft voice spoke.

The elevator came to a stop on the floor above the one Hulk stood at. Shepard and his team cautiously moved to the torn off edge of the floor, looking down at the Hulk.

"For the last time blue girl, HULK NOT MIRAGE!" Hulk yelled so load that the whole ruin shook.

The ledge Michael was standing on suddenly collapsed and Michael fell to the floor, landing at Hulk's feet.

"Huh, what's this, human like Hulk, armour like Iron Man," Hulk said as he picked Michael up.

Michael gripped Hulk's hand, practically hanging off of the Avenger's giant limb. He looked at Hulk in a mix of surprise and terror.

"I must admit, these hallucinations are getting rather strange, maybe I'm not dreaming," The gentle voice said.

Michael looked at his side, seeing the Asari on the other side of the barrier. She was floating off the floor, trapped in some kind of energy bubble. More than that she wasn't what Michael was expected. Liara T'Soni was stunning; the light of the barrier complimented her pure blue skin, while her inquisitive and curious blue eyes added to her looks. She wore a white and green uniform, similar in its design to what Chakwas wore.

"Liara T'Soni I presume," Michael said.

"Hippie not ignore Hulk, look Hulk in the eye," Hulk growled.

"Put the boy down!"

Michael sighed as Shepard and his squad landed in front of Hulk. They kept their rifles trained on Hulk, causing the Avenger to growl.

"Wait stop, please we don't need to fight," Michael said hastily.

"Yes, Hippie is right, now that I know I'm not hallucinating I realise that we are in great danger," Liara stated.

"My names not…forget it, Shepard please put the guns down, the Hulk isn't a threat to us," Michael explained.

"Guns not do anything to Hulk anyway," The green giant grumbled.

"Michael, you know this guy?" Shepard asked.

"He's…facing the same situation I am Commander," Michael looked at Wrex and Garrus, unsure whether he should explain everything with them present.

Unexpectedly, Shepard lowered his gun, causing Wrex and Garrus to stare at him in shock. Shepard walked forward, looking Hulk in the eyes. They both glared at one another.

"Put Hippie down and we'll help you find a way out of here," Shepard ordered the Hulk.

Hulk raised his eyebrows, grumbling as he stepped back. Michael landed hard on the floor, clutching his ass his pain.

"Could have put me down gently," He cringed as he got up the floor.

"Where is Hulk?" Hulk asked.

"Your on the Planet Therum, a Prothean Ruin that's currently under attack by Geth," Shepard said.

"Therum, Prothean, Geth? Hulk not understand these words, alls Hulk know is that this place filled with flash light heads and blue women wont leave Hulk alone!" Hulk explained.

"The Flash light heads are the Geth, Liara T'Soni, the blue girl is called an Asari, this place is Prothean, a group that Liara specialises in researching. She is a professor in this field who the flash light heads, the Geth are trying to kidnap. They are working for Saren, a man that wants to kill a loud of people, including the Hulk with information Liara may or may not have," Shepard explained.

Michael looked at the Commander in astonishment; he was affectively negotiating, no recruiting the Hulk.

"Hmmm, Saren's Geth try to hurt Hulk, Hulk will smash Saren, WHERE IS SAREN!"

"Calm down, Saren is not here, we are here to rescue Liara but we're trapped. Can you help us find a way out?" Shepard asked.

Hulk touched his chin, thinking for a little bit.

"Hulk tried smashing blue wall thing, didn't budge, just attracted flash light heads," Hulk said.

"The Geth are led by a Krogan Battle master, they left before Hulk arrived but they'll be back," Liara said.

"Miss T'Soni do you know any ways we can get to you from here?" Michael asked.

"This field is a Prothean Barrier curtain, when the Geth came I activated it, unfortunately I must have touched something I wasn't supposed to, now I cant reach the control terminal," Liara explained.

"Blue girl sound more stupid than Hulk," Hulk muttered.

"Okay if we cant break through the barrier, then we find a way around it," Garrus said.

"No, we make a way around it," Shepard said, pointing at the camp below the platform.

"Please come back soon," Liara called after the squad as they climbed down to the camp.

Hulk landed unceremoniously behind the squad, stepping up behind them. Shepard had his eyes on a mining laser, but Hulk had other ideas.

"HULK SMASH!"

The green giant began slamming his fists into the rock. Pieces of debris flew behind the Hulk as he "dug" underneath the Prothean barrier. With a final punch he created a path leading to the bottom of the tower elevator.

"Hulk made way, now we save blue girl!"

"Well this was certainly an unexpected find," Garrus said.

"The day isn't over yet Vakarian, still room for one more surprise," Wrex said.

Shepard kept his eyes on Michael, his way of telling him that he expected an explanation after the mission. The group and their new addition stepped onto the elevator, taking it to the floor Liara was on. Liara turned her head, seeing the group behind her.

"How did you get through?" She asked.

"A green mole," Shepard said.

"Green mole? Never mind, that console there controls the barrier, push the blinking button to shut down the curtain," Liara explained.

Michael moved to the console, only for Shepard to grab his shoulder.

"What do you know about Saren and Matriarch Benezia?" Shepard asked.

"Saren and my mother? What do you mean?"

"Please, Benezia works with Saren and you know nothing about it, a likely story," Wrex scoffed.

"I don't know why my mother joined Saren, I want nothing to do with that Turian bastard," Liara said.

"Whether she's working for Saren or not doesn't matter, we'll still need her alive, let her go Van Patrick," Shepard said.

Michael pressed the button at the console, deactivating the barrier curtain. Liara fell to the floor and slowly picked herself up. She wiped the dust off of her uniform and turned to Shepard's team.

"We must leave now, that elevator will take us to the upper entrance of the ruins," She said.

Michael noticed that Liara was a little dazed, exhausted even as she walked with the team to the elevator.

"I still don't understand why Saren would be after me," She said.

"He's after you for the conduit," Shepard stated.

"The conduit, I don't understand what…"

Liara's words were interrupted as the whole ruin shook.

"What the hell was that?" Shepard asked.

"The dormant volcano is active, Hulk must have triggered a seismic event that…"

"Then we don't have time to talk, Joker lock in on my position and pick us up on the double mister," Shepard said.

"Sure thing Commander," Joker said over the radio.

"If I die in here I'll kill him," Wrex growled.

For once Michael was thankful that there was an elevator. It had no annoying music and was actually fast. Within seconds the team had reached the top of the tower. Shepard moved to the front of the team as a Krogan and full squad of Geth walked towards them. The Battle master looked at the Hulk in surprise for a moment before facing Shepard.

"Surrender, or don't, its your choice," He said.

"No time for this idiot, HULK SMASH!"

"Ha, I like your attitude!"

Hulk rushed past Shepard, Geth beams flying into his shoulders. He swung his fist at the Krogan, only for the battle master to shoot him in the head with his shotgun. But the Krogan widened his eyes in shock as the Hulk simply yelled, clutching his blown face in pain. The torn bits of his skin reformed and Hulk glared at the Battle master, green blood covering his face.

"CHARGE!" Shepard yelled.

Garrus fired his mantis, hitting the Geth Sniper. Wrex ran forward with Shepard, firing their assault rifles at the troopers. The enemy Krogan rolled out of Hulk's reach as the giant punched the spot he had stood on. Wrex Biotically threw the Krogan out of the chamber and onto the walkway. The Geth rocket troopers fired their missiles at the Hulk, knocking him back slightly. He grabbed one of the rockets, biting the tip like a snack. Then he spat the tip out, hitting one of the troopers.

"Incredible," Liara muttered.

"That's practically his first name," Michael grinned.

"Incredible Hulk?"

Michael sheepishly rubbed the back of his head; clearly Liara didn't have great knowledge on humour. Hulk clotheslined two of the Geth, sending them flying out of the chamber, past Wrex and the enemy Krogan. Wrex wrestled with the other Krogan, their claws locking as they bashed their heads together.

"Maybe you should have left me to your green friend Urdnot," The Krogan laughed.

"You know my clan name, I don't even care to learn yours," Wrex said.

The enemy Krogan shoved Wrex back and delivered a series of brutal punches to his face. He then charged, knocking Wrex to the ground. Hulk ran towards the Krogan Battlemaster, swinging his fist back. The Krogan smoothly slid underneath the Hulk as he swung his arm around. Hulk stumbled forwards, coming to a stop at the edge of the walkway. The railing suddenly collapsed and Hulk yelled as he fell into the chasm.

"HA! So much for him!" The enemy Krogan gloated.

He turned around, only for an Omni blade to piece between his eyes. Shepard pulled his Omni-blade out of the Krogan's face, turning to his squad as debris started falling.

"WE NEED TO MOVE! GO!" He yelled.

"What about the Hulk, he protected Hippie and I," Liara said.

"The Hulk's alive, trust me on that, come on lets go," Michael said, pushing Liara forward.

Shepard ran in front, with the rest of the squad close behind. He stopped as several rocks fell on the walkway, then carried out as the group sprinted for the exit. The walkway began to shake as the group approached the exit.

"HURRY!" Shepard yelled.

Shepard slammed the button on the door, opening it and running outside. Wrex and Garrus followed behind him, while Liara and Michael lagged behind.

"Come on Liara, keep running," Michael said.

Suddenly, the walkway collapsed beneath them and both Liara and Michael fell into the chasm.

"MICHAEL!" Shepard yelled.

Michael felt his bones tremble as his body struck the side of the rocks. He quickly grabbed the nearest ledge of the wall he could, grabbing Liara's arm with his other hand.

"By the goddess, the volcano has became active," Liara gasped.

"Wrap your arms around my neck, I'll try to climb up," Michael said.

"Let me go, you'll never make it worrying about me!"

"Are you kidding me? You don't want to die here do you?"

Michael widened his eyes as he felt the rock he was holding crack. When the rock shattered, he and Liara screamed as they fell towards the lava below them. A roar suddenly echoed through the ruins and a bulky figure jumped out of the lava. He grabbed Michael and Liara, gripping them both with each hand as he jumped between the walls of the ruins. Liara and Michael both closed their eyes as their saviour "flew" into the wall.

"We need to go back in for them," Garrus said.

"Not with that volcano about to go off," Wrex said.

The ground team was back on the Normandy, inside the Cargo bay.

"What happened Skipper?" Ashley asked.

"T'Soni and Michael, they didn't make it," Shepard lowered his head slightly while Ashley and Tali gasped.

"Uh Shepard, there's something you'd better see, like right away," Joker's voice echoed over the intercom.

Shepard ran up to the bridge, widening his eyes at what he saw. The Hulk, with half of his hair burnt off was jumping away from the ruins, just as the volcano exploded. But what shocked Shepard most was the two people Hulk carried. The Hulk landed at the checkpoint, far away from the destroyed Prothean Ruins.

"Joker, get us down there to extract the rest of the team," Shepard said.

"Team? As in the big green monster's now part of the crew, do we even have a sleeper pod his size?" Joker asked.

Michael and Liara both sighed in relief as their feet touched the ground. They checked themselves for injuries.

"Thank the goddess/thank god!" They said together.

They both looked at the Hulk as his vicious burns began to heal. Michael had been apprehensive of the Hulk, especially considering his various statuses in the Avengers. Now Michael saw that the Hulk was a force for good, a hero under the right circumstances. The giant suddenly began to shrink, his dark green hair taking on a brown colour as it grew back. Liara stepped back in shock while Michael moved forward, catching the thin, sickly looking man the Hulk had become.

"Doctor Banner is that you?" Michael asked.

"One and only, anyone got an air conditioner, it's a little hot out here," Bruce Banner groaned before falling unconscious.

Michael lifted Banner onto his shoulder as the Normandy hovered towards the checkpoint.

"Well, this is going to be tough to explain," He chuckled.

* * *

**Project Dimension base**

Victor sat back in his chair, reviewing the latest finds from the research teams he had sent into the galaxy to track these spatial anomalies. He drank his wine and moved onto a report on the prisoners. They were in good condition, but quickly growing restless. Then there was the high probability of the base receiving more prisoners.

"Alternate pasts linked to our present," Victor mused, mainly for his own benefit. "These pasts with a completely different history and first contact to our own have become linked to our dimension. I cant help but ask the question, could variations of our present or perhaps future be linked to their worlds and if so, how will the "super heroes" of those worlds react to the Reapers?"

He wondered curiously of how these worlds would react to the threat the Illusive man told him of. Victor was fully aware through his link to the Illusive Man that Shepard would soon discover the darkest secret of this reality.

Chapter 14: Mission Debriefing: Therum

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time we'll see Banner's integration into the Normandy. I'll give you a fair warning, more versions of Marvel characters will join the main cast, and they wont just be versions of the Mainstream marvel characters. I'm not going to overload the Normandy with characters though.

Till next time folks


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer I down own Marvel or Mass Effect

Watched the Avengers and played Mass Effect 3, both incredible experiences (yes there's disappointment in ME3 ending but Hulk moments in Avengers made up for it) Anyway here I am with the next update, thanks for waiting folks.

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 14: Mission Debriefing: Therum

Mere minutes had passed since the mission on Therum and the Normandy was already on its way out of the system. The ground team, including Liara had assembled in the briefing room. Michael allowed Liara to take his seat, noticing the exhausted expression on her face.

"Too close commander, the Normandy isn't designed to land in exploding volcanoes, they tend to melt our hull and fry our sensors, just for future reference," Joker's voice rung across the intercom, breaking the awkward silence between the team.

"We almost died back there and your pilot is making jokes," Liara said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Joker pulled our Asses out of there, he's earned the right to crack a few bad jokes. When he hasn't earned the right then he's just being an ass, ignore him!" Shepard stated.

"I see, it must be a human thing, I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species commander, but I am grateful to you, those Geth would have killed me or dragged me off to Saren," Liara then focused her attention on Michael, who stood next to Wrex's chair. "And I must thank you as well Hippie, if not for you I would have fallen into that volcano!"

Ashley and Kaidan looked at Michael while Garrus and Wrex laughed. The young man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Its Michael Doctor T'Soni, Michael Van Patrick," he said.

"Oh, I am so sorry, when Hulk called you Hippie I assumed that was your name," Liara turned her head away, her cheeks turning red.

"What did Saren want with you, do you know something about the conduit?" Kaidan asked.

'Thank you Kaidan,' Michael thought, sighing with relief.

"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction, that is my real area of expertise, I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them," Liara explained.

"Fifty years? How old are you exactly?" Michael asked.

"I am ashamed to admit it but I am only a hundred and six."

"Damn, I hope I look that good when I'm your age," Ashley said.

"Its true that a hundred and six can seem like a long time for a short lived species like yourself, but in Asari culture I am still considered a child. That's probably why my research hasn't been taken very seriously," Liara lowered her head slightly and Michael caught the disappointment in her eyes.

In truth she wasn't anywhere close to finding out about how the Prothean's vanished. She explained to the group of the small pieces of data she found regarding Prothean's. Unlike this "cycle" they were the dominant space travelling species in the galaxy. Their empire expanded across hundreds of star systems and their technology and social understanding had evolved beyond galactic society today. Liara spoke with a passion befitting a child, despite her hundred-year age. She idolised the Prothean's just as much as Michael idolised Captain America.

"But there is surprisingly little evidence, which I find very strange," Liara said.

"How so?" Kaidan asked.

"Isn't it obvious, evidence is always left behind but according to Liara there isn't much regarding why the Prothean's died off," Michael said.

"Mr Van Patrick is right, it's as if someone wiped away all the records and destroyed all the evidence of the Prothean extinction, yet their technology was left behind for our species to discover," Liara explained.

"I know why the Prothean's disappeared," Michael said, causing Liara to turn to him. "A Prothean beacon on Eden Prime burned an image into my brain. Information Tali found helped me to piece together a little bit of what the vision meant, The Prothean's were wiped out by a race of machines known as "the Reapers"," Michael explained.

Liara got off her chair, staring at Michael with a mix of shock and confusion.

"You found a Prothean beacon and actually used it, council teams have been able to extract information from the database in the past but for a Beacon to actually be activated and used successfully would require an actual Prothean. For you to have survived joining with one is near miraculous, you must be remarkably strong willed Mr Van Patrick," Liara's voice gave off a touch of admiration.

Ashley shook her head while Kaidan grinned.

"But wait, if what you say is true, then the Reapers are responsible for the other cycles as well…"

"Wait cycles? Are you saying this has happened more than once?" Shepard asked.

"Yes commander, my research has led me to the conclusion that the Prothean's weren't the only species to disappear, throughout the millennia their have been countless species that rose to the peak of their evolution and power and yet were suddenly and violently destroyed. Our technology, the mass relays and the Citadel are not based on the creations of the Prothean's, but those that came before them," Liara explained.

"So the Reapers must be real then," Garrus said, as a detective he couldn't deny the connections in front of him, even if they were a little farfetched.

Shepard nodded his head, sharing Garrus's belief. He looked to the rest of the team, measuring their reactions. Ashley and Kaidan were understandably hesitant to believe the idea, after all they were common soldiers, plus they didn't have the psychological baggage he had. Tali was unreadable and Wrex looked as if he was piecing together bits of information too, which seemed strange for a Krogan. Michael however was certain, as if he believed that such a force was capable of destroying a whole species.

"I don't know why Saren was after you, but it'll be better if you stay on the Normandy," Shepard said, looking at Liara.

"Thank you Commander, I think the Normandy will be safest for me, and my knowledge on the Prothean's might be useful," Liara said.

"Plus her Biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts," Wrex stated.

"That's what I thought, sit down Doctor T'Soni, that goes for the rest of you, Joker have Dr Chakwas bring our guest up to the briefing room and keep what I say in here a secret," Shepard explained.

"Should be easy enough commander, then again no ones going to believe that I saw a giant green guy on steroids jumping out of a volcano," Joker said.

Michael shifted slightly as Shepard looked at him. The young man knew that this time would come, and with Dr Banner on the ship it only made things more complicated. He knew Shepard would understand, after all Banner was an asset Shepard wouldn't ignore but the others would probably be overwhelmed. The door opened and Chakwas walked in with Dr Banner. He looked much healthier now, wearing a uniform similar to Chakwas's and a pair of round frame glasses. Chakwas nodded to Shepard before walking out of the room, the door locking behind her. Shepard took a deep breath before he began his briefing.

"Everyone meet Dr Bruce Banner, he's a pioneer in the research of Gamma radiation, he also died because of a Gamma reactor leak in 2011," Shepard said.

Michael widened his eyes slightly, he knew that he existed in this timeline but he didn't know of the other people from his dimension. Just how similar were these two worlds?

"Is this a joke commander?" Kaidan asked.

"Do I look like I'm joking Staff Lieutenant?"

The team members looked at Michael, expecting an answer from him.

"There's no easy way for me to explain this but Dr Banner and I aren't from this world," Michael sighed.

"Its okay son, I can explain the rest, hello everyone, as the Commander explained I am Dr Bruce Banner but unlike your timelines Banner I didn't die because of radiation exposure, in fact before the turn of the twenty first century I was exposed to an explosion from a Gamma bomb, the bomb altered my DNA and turned me into that creature the flight lieutenant saw," Bruce explained.

"You mean Joker wasn't joking?" Ashley asked.

"I can be serious sometimes," Joker cut in.

"You're a scientist Banner, explain to us how this all works," Shepard said.

"Yes, I'm no expert but in the past I've worked with someone who is. Reed Richards hypothesised that time is like a storm, filled with hundreds of possibilities. These possibilities can be linked to standards of evolution and technological development, explaining why we don't have Turian's or any of the races you know of in our timeline. Most however are based on the concepts of choices, as you know sentient life forms are faced with hundreds of choices in their lives. Sometimes the choice we make merely affects our own world, yet occasionally we might come across a choice that changes everything. This choice results in a change and the creation of two realities, one where the change occurred and another where it happened differently," Bruce explained.

"I understand, your speaking of the theories of the Multi-verse, universes linked yet separate from one another," Liara said.

"Yes, in short there are alternate realities out there and sometimes its possible for these realities to join together, Richards created two theories, that there was a centre of the Multi-verse that controlled all the others and that disruptions in this reality led to distortions in the others. Another theory he had was that the destruction of one universe would lead to temporal distortions appearing in others, Einstein Rosen bridges that link universes together."

"Hold up, can we take this a little bit slower, all this science talk hurts my head," Wrex said.

"I've gotta agree with Wrex there, we're not exactly top of our classes," Ashley nodded her head.

Bruce sighed while Shepard shook his head. Even simple scientific lectures seemed to be complicated to people. This whole explanation was a scaled down version of a 5-hour time lecture on time-space paradoxes and their entire tie in sciences such as astronomy and physics. Liara already seemed to understand the issue and the alien in the suit, Tali Michael called her seemed to be getting a grip on the subject.

"What Dr Banner is saying is that he and Michael and possibly more people have come through literal holes in the fabric of reality. They've theorised that these holes have either been created deliberately or accidentally by a natural disaster occurring in a reality that links the others together," Shepard said.

"But what could cause the destruction of a whole universe?" Tali asked.

"There are several things in my reality, but reading your codex I've found one thing that could lead to the complete destruction of your universe," Bruce said.

"What's that?" Garrus asked.

"It doesn't matter, how this event has occurred is of little importance, what matters is our mission," Shepard said.

"Shepard has a point, tares in the fabric of reality are a little too big for us to handle," Ashley sighed.

"That's not the point I'm making at all chief," Shepard grinned.

The others turned to Shepard, their eyes wide in shock.

"What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave the Normandy," he said firmly. "Admiral Hackett and the fifth fleet discovered several energy signatures throughout space. Some occurred in deep space, others on planets and colony worlds like Eden Prime."

Michael gasped, realising what the energy signatures were.

"They were all similar in nature and I'm betting that if Dr Banner analyses the signatures he'll tell you exactly what they are."

"Connections to other worlds," Bruce said.

Shepard nodded his head and bought up an image of the galaxy map. He pointed his finger at several star systems within range of Citadel space and even a few in the Terminus systems. Bruce widened his eyes slightly, seeing an overall of sixteen circles, and he knew exactly what they represented.

"These highlighted areas are places where these "temporal rifts occurred" and resulted in the release of one or more objects coming through. Our mission besides stopping Saren is to find out what came through these rifts and how they'll affect us. If we're lucky we'll find survivors that might be able to tell us exactly what's happened or technology we can use against Saren," Shepard explained.

"What are we going to do if we do find survivors? Or if something worse than the Hulk came through?" Bruce asked.

The scientist narrowed his eyes slightly at Shepard. As Chakwas treated him, Bruce had spent some time reading the Codex that detailed this universes history. One article he read was about Shepard. Bruce saw slithers of Steve Rogers and Nick Fury inside Shepard. He was a patriot and a skilled soldier but a ruthless man when it counted. Steve inspired Bruce but he never trusted Fury, the man always had an agenda hidden behind his missions.

"Is there anything worse than the Hulk?" Shepard asked.

"Cant say, the Hulk's power levels can be difficult compare to some of the other monsters in our world, what I will tell you is that the madder Hulk gets the stronger Hulk gets, but he gets more dangerous too," Bruce explained.

"I see, the transformation is based on your stress levels, but how exactly are you in control in such a stressful situation?" Liara asked.

"Trade secret Doctor," Bruce smirked.

"Commander, aren't we a little bit out of our league here?" Kaidan asked.

"Speak for yourself Alenko, I'd relish the chance to fight something like the Hulk," Wrex chuckled.

"I wouldn't, the Hulk is the strongest there is," Bruce said.

"Care to put that to the test," Wrex got off his chair.

"All right that's enough, our mission still stands, until Chakwas has determined that Doctor Banner is calm and collected enough he will be confined to the Normandy when we dock. Dr T'Soni get some rest, everyone else return to your posts, Michael I'd like you to stay here for a moment," Shepard explained.

"Is this anything I need to sit in for?" Bruce asked.

Shepard shook his head, causing Bruce to sigh.

"All right then, I'll make myself useful in engineering," he said.

"I work down there, I'd be happy to show you the way Doctor Banner, if you have the time I'd also be interested in discussing Gamma Radiations practical uses," Tali explained.

"Sure whenever you have the time Miss…"

"Tali Zorah Nar Rayya," Tali nodded her head to Bruce.

"Garrus Vakarian!"

"Urdnot Wrex, I'd love to chat with the Hulk when he's available."

"Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams."

With the introductions over, Shepard dismissed the crew, leaving him and Michael in the briefing room. Bruce meanwhile walked with Tali, Garrus and Wrex to the elevator. The three aliens looked at one another as they listened to Bruce hum a tune in his head.

"AAAvengers we are strong…forever right as one," Bruce muttered.

'What the hell?' the three aliens thought.

Ashley and Kaidan however both sat in the mess hall, contemplating what they had discovered.

"Overwhelming isn't it?" Kaidan asked.

"You're a biotic Kaidan, against something like the Hulk my rifle might as well be shooting spit balls," Ashley sighed.

"But you haven't requested a transfer yet, in fact your not going to," Kaidan said.

"Don't tell me you've got psychic abilities with those biotics LT," Ashley smirked.

"No, besides reading a mind is impossible."

"I'll note that you haven't requested a transfer yet either Kaidan, is your excuse similar to mine?" Ashley asked.

"If its "I want to serve with Shepard" then yes, say what you will about his methods, but there's more to the man himself than his reputation," Kaidan said.

"Exactly, "Butcher of Torfan", what the hell was PR thinking? Besides look at the way he leads this ship, he's open minded enough to let talented non-alliance personnel onto the team, he's accepted Dr Banner despite his "eccentricities" and the mission itself, if Shepard was any other man he'd be overwhelmed by all this, but not Commander…do you know his first name?"

Kaidan laughed for a moment before putting a hand to his chin.

"You know I don't think I've heard anyone call Shepard by his first name, we could just call it one of his appeals, anyway I'd better get back to work, those simulations wont run themselves," Kaidan sighed.

"So that's what you do at that console all day!"

Meanwhile, Michael and Shepard stood side by side as Joker patched the council into the comm. Room. Michael had only recently discovered the real names of the councillors. Tevos was the Asari Councillor, in fact she'd been the councillor for a few centuries now. Valern, the logic and diplomacy of the council represented the Salarian government. Then there was the ever-critical Sparatus of the Turian government.

"Commander, we've read the report, its fortunate that you managed to recover Benezia's daughter," Valern said.

"I assume your regarding her with the necessary precautions," Sparatus said.

"I'm giving Doctor T'Soni the benefit of the doubt, the Geth were trying to kill her," Shepard stated.

"Matriarch Benezia would never allow Saren to hurt her daughter," Tevos said.

"Maybe she doesn't know," Valern suggested.

"Or maybe we don't know her, we never thought she would be capable of joining Saren, and Commander might I ask why the boy is present at this confidential debriefing?" Sparatus asked.

'The boy,' Michael thought, squeezing his fists together.

"By Spectre authority I'm allowing Mr Van Patrick to be present, the Prothean device burned an image into **his **mind, if it had been anyone else I also would have asked them to be present," Shepard explained.

"The mission was a success, though it came at heavy cost," Tevos sighed.

"The destruction of a major Prothean ruin, was that really necessary commander?" Sparatus asked.

"Councillor it…"

"Was my responsibility councillor," Shepard interrupted Michael. "We could only reach Doctor T'Soni by cutting a path with a mining laser, Doctor T'Soni had been working on the mines for months, if there was anything of value she would of found it by now. My actions require no defence though, the mission was to recover T'Soni, not research data, with such vague details of the mission the objective and safety of my team took priority," Shepard explained.

"We understand Commander, the success of the mission is a priority, however are you any closer to discovering what the conduit is?" Valern asked.

"No, though we may learn more from Feros and Noveria, if you excuse me councillors I must make preparations to reach Feros," Shepard said.

"Very well Commander, we wont take up anymore of your time," Tevos said.

One by one, the three councillors disappeared. Michael then looked at Shepard in confusion. The commander knew exactly what kind of question Michael was going to ask, so Shepard answered it before it could be asked.

"If they knew about Dr Banner then all of the species would want to be involved in this alternate reality mess. You would be imprisoned and questioned about your reality while the Hulk would be dissected…or at least they'd try to before he smashes up the citadel," Shepard explained.

"I understand sir, but we aren't going to Feros are we?" Michael asked.

Shepard shook his head.

"We're going to the nearest rift, we'll investigate and bring back whatever we find," he said. "And Michael, before you go I want to make something clear, if we find anymore "heroes" like the Hulk they'll be your responsibility. Bruce isn't a prisoner and I doubt anything could truly stop if he wanted to leave, but if ever he wishes to explore places like Noveria or the Citadel you'll have to follow him, and if there's trouble I want you to get in contact with me immediately."

"I wont let you down Shepard," Michael said.

Once Michael left the room, Shepard immediately patched the communicator into the fifth fleet's frequency. The holographic image of a scarred, middle-aged officer appeared on the screen. Shepard immediately saluted the man, regarding him with the respect and obedience that came with his rank.

"Admiral Hackett," Shepard said.

"Commander, I've read your real report, "the Hulk" huh? Shepard if you can get something like that to work with us then I'd say you could do anything," Hackett explained.

"Dr Banner seems to be an intelligent man, he's working in engineering, I contacted you to tell you that I would be leaving to investigate that rift."

"Yes Shepard but before you do I needed to tell you about a discovery we made, probably not connected to these dimensional rifts but it doesn't hurt to know all the facts. Our deep space out posts detected a high build up of dark energy within the outer rim, it opened something similar to a singularity and blew out a single object. Right now we have no idea what it is or what it could be but what we do know is that within minutes of floating in space it suddenly disappeared."

"I'll look into it Admiral, if its connected then I'll find out," Shepard said.

"There's probably no connection Shepard, just our scientists getting a little paranoid, keep your eyes out and good luck out there, fifth fleet out," Hackett saluted the commander and vice versa before they both cut communications.

* * *

Dalia Dantius felt like smiling, but such an act would have been seen as a weakness amongst her fellow smugglers. Her bitch of a sister, Nassana Dantius was once again proving what a failure she was as an older sister. The ambitious Asari business woman had apparently been tracking her sisters movements. But it wasn't so she could have a happy family reunion. Dalia and her crew began preparations to move their operations. Nassana was shady enough to send a lone assassin, but if she did actually send a council ship then they needed to leave the system was soon as possible. It was a set back for the business, but Dalia wanted to keep her life. She owed her life to the mysterious businessman Serrurre. Dalia looked over at the thin, dark haired man. He wore a green business suit and carried himself with a confidence, but an edge of excitement as well, as if being in the presence of murderers and thieves was nothing to him.

"I must thank you again Mr Joten," Dalia said.

"Its Jotun, you pronounce the J as if you were using a Y, its human pronunciations, they confuse even us sometimes. But I couldn't just stand by as your sister had you murdered, trust me I know what its like to have an older sibling disappoint you…then again they might say I was the disappointment," Serrurre explained, flashing a charming, yet devious grin.

"Still, its generous of you to do this without taking a share of our cut," Dalia eyed the man suspiciously.

"Oh I'm no philanthropist, I need an ally Miss Dantius and your resemblance to your sister is quite important for a very special plan I have. It amazes me how some amongst your species can resemble one another identically, even children seem to be an exact match to their parents when they reach a particular age," Serrurre walked past Dalia, watching her men pack numerous boxes onto a truck.

"Talk to me a little more Mr Jotun and I might just say yes, though in future keep away from my men, they didn't find that prank you pulled with the hologram very funny," Dalia said.

Serrurre laughed as he turned to Dalia with a smirk across his face.

"What can I say Dalia, I love a little mischief!"

Next Chapter 15: Transferred

* * *

Before we go into Shepard's mission again, next time we take a trip with the Marvel crowd, Tony Stark's tranfered to a new prison and faced with a very familiar situation.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect or Marvel

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 15: Transferred

**Project dimension facility**

A new status quo came with the recent event in the project dimension cell. Ever since the incident, Victor had kept up daily reports to the Illusive man, whilst covering up Wolverine's escape. He had also paid the Shadow Broker a considerable amount of money to forward all data on Wolverine to him. If Wolverine did anything to attract attention, the Broker would see to it that no one else would discover the man's escape. Victor's plans were dependent on his ability to control every aspect of the dimension project. With that in mind Victor made plans to transfer certain prisoners to facilities outside of Cerberus control. One particular facility would be the perfect place to put Tony Stark to work. Stark's "iron man" armour had been a stroke of genius, combining that with alien tech would strengthen Victor's goal of domination, not for humanity but for all those that were worthy. To that end Victor had the scientist deported to a facility in the Terminus systems, far away from the eyes of the council and the alliance.

* * *

If there was one thing Tony Stark loved in the world of super heroics it was villains that underestimated him. They were a godsend for Iron Man, but even more so for Tony Stark. No one would suspect Tony Stark the scientist being just as vital to Iron man as the weapons and armour were. There was always someone behind the mask, or helmet in Tony's case. Morale had been low because of the supposed "death of wolverine" but Tony knew better. He knew that Logan was far too great a soldier to be taken down by inexperienced troops like the Cerberus guards. They proved their ineptitude in their nervous approach to transferring prisoners. One was going to release Clint's restraints, until the squad leader suggested using tranquillisers. But he never suggested knocking out Tony or Emma. Tony saw the soldiers leading Emma in a separate direction to the one they were going.

'Someone's good with their tech,' Tony thought, seeing that the men weren't effected by Emma's psychic waves.

Tony's focus then shifted to the masses of people gathering around Steve.

"Be careful with this one, Chambers said that out of all of them he'd be the most difficult to take down," the squad leader said.

That was the last thing Tony heard before the troops led him away. He felt their guns on his back, but he wasn't afraid. Even without the armour he had utter confidence in an ability his enemies often overlooked; his charm. That was a charm he flaunted as the guards led him to an elevator, one that lacked music and left the group of five in a silent and tense situation.

"I feel like I'm being dragged off to be executed, what are we not allowed to talk?" Tony asked.

"We're not permitted to talk to you sir," the squad leader said.

"Good god you're a woman, honestly I never would have guessed with all that armour," Tony said, causing the men behind him to laugh.

The squad leader turned her head, glaring at the soldiers behind her glass visor.

"Though when I look through the visor I can see you've got great eyes, I'm actually having a hard time not looking at you now is that normal or do you have to put on a white jumpsuit like that Australian lady wears?"

Again the male guards fought off the urge to laugh.

"Mina Romanov, Captain, Serial code B3227," the woman said.

"Russian huh? Even better," Tony grinned.

The door opened and the guards led Tony towards a shuttle. Though Tony guessed it was a shuttle judging from the shape and design. The windows were blacked out so Tony guessed that they were sending him away. He turned to the men, who raised their rifles, as they got closer to the shuttle.

"You know I gotta say your boss is a pretty smart guy, hooking up my repulsor gauntlets to that holographic tool was genius, but I gotta say I think your betting on the wrong horse," Tony explained.

"Oh really, what makes you say that?" Mina asked.

"Well lets see you've got the fact that he's separating the guys most likely to save the day and there's the fact that he let a certain Canadian friend of mine go. That's not gonna end well for him, trust me there's no version or alternative play through of what's going to happen to this place."

"Oh I see, you, Captain subtle, the archer and the spider will come back, free your friends and kick our asses, is that what your saying?"

"Close but no, to put it bluntly the guy in charge of this place is going to fuck up so bad that he'll get all of you killed," Tony said.

Mina's stern expression reverted to an anxious stare. But she quickly recovered and shoved Tony into the shuttle. He sighed as he looked back at the guards.

"Unfortunately we can only save you if you let us," he said as the shuttle doors closed.

Tony rested his head against the shuttle wall, sitting with his knees bent as he felt the shuttle leave the artificial gravity of the dimension facility. Wherever he was going, Tony Stark was confident of his escape. However he was smart enough to know that not everyone would survive.

* * *

**Normandy-Artemis Tau Cluster**

Michael had to resist the urge to yawn as he carried out one of his boring duties on the ship. He only hoped Komodo or Harball would get on the Normandy, the amount of probe jokes they would crack. Since funding from the Alliance and the council was limited the Normandy would have to salvage and search uncharted worlds for materials and abandoned equipment. Teams would place trackers on mineral sources that the alliance would pay them for recovering. But Shepard had given Michael the job of back room dealing with independent parties. Basically Shepard had put Michael in charge of black market dealings, though Shepard never described it as such.

'I don't even know what these matriarch writings are, they could be more valuable than they appear to be, if that's the case I don't want some Volus merchant or Asari diplomat ripping me off,' Michael thought as he tried rather unsuccessfully to decipher the Asari writings.

He would sell modifications like amps and armour to small time mercenary companies. These companies operated more like vigilantes than pirates. He was careful to stay away from groups like the Blue Suns and the Blood pack and stuck mostly to groups that consisted of men and women trying to make a living outside of the alliance. Michael sifted through email addresses and comm. Frequencies he'd been given. One person he'd trade with would lead him to another and vice versa. But Michael still hadn't secured Asari contacts that could help him decipher the Matriarch writings.

'Liara might be able to help, but if these writings are important to the Asari government she'd turn them over to them. Trusting the government only goes so far, we need funding and I don't think Tevos will give us resources we need, we'd have to save Thessia for that to happen,' Michael sighed as he put the writings away and walked away from his locker.

Another duty Michael had was checking Bruce's progress and making sure his "other half" was contained. Walking past the procurement officer, Michael made his way to the Normandy's engineering deck. Engineering was a small confined space, but the amazing sight of the drive core made overlooking the series of ducts an easy mistake to make. Tali was working at a small workstation far away from the engineering crew. Michael knew that there was some distrust amongst the crew regarding the alien team members, but Tali seemed to have it worst than Garrus and even Wrex. It was as if humans trusted Quarians even less than Turians.

"Thanks again for fixing that eezo transfer pipe Tali," Adams said as he walked by Tali.

Michael smiled at Engineer Adams more light hearted nature. He was in charge of engineering and unlike Pressly was laid back in his approach to the aliens. The man's encouraging and rewarding nature more than made up for the mistrust the crew regarded Tali with.

"Thank you sir, but it was Doctor Banner that pointed out the problem," Tali said.

"Knowing the problem and being able to fix it are two different things Tali, you were able to repair the pipe without me going into great detail about the nature of the damage," Bruce explained.

"He's right Tali, I wish my guys were half as smart as you are, you and Dr Banner have really pulled through," Adams said.

"Thank you engineer Adams, I was looking at the drive core earlier and while I admit that the system is state of the art I do have some concerns about safety measures. Fortunately I did some digging and I found several additions we could make to the Normandy that would increase safety amongst the crew during combat without effecting the overall performance of the core," Bruce handed the bewildered Adams a data pad.

Adams held onto Bruce's words as he read the requisitions listed on the pad. The man raised his eyebrows with a mix of shock and awe before handing the pad over.

"That's a good eye Doc, I'll be sure to forward the details to the commander, the Normandy is an experimental ship so any improvements to its design are welcome," Adam smiled, patting Bruce's shoulder before he walked off.

Bruce sighed slightly as he turned to his workstation. Tali stopped her work and turned to Bruce, ringing her wrists as she nervously spoke to the physicist.

"T-thank you for that Bruce, I at least suspected that Adams trusted me more than the other crew members, but I never thought he felt that way about my presence here," Tali explained.

"Shepard's lucky to have you on his team Tali, being hard working and being good at your job are difficult things to find. Too many people become relaxed when they're good at something but you go through every safety parameter, every maintenance check and write up every report in as great as detail as you can think of. You're a real credit to your people," Bruce smiled as he looked at the drive core.

"I noticed that you didn't sleep last night, do you have trouble sleeping too?" Tali asked.

Michael then decided to stop the eaves dropping as he made his way out of engineering. He knew why Bruce would have difficulty sleeping but Tali's troubles were her own. The young man didn't feel like pushing people for answers, especially people he respected. Shepard on the other hand was all about answers, as Michael saw when he got to the cargo deck.

"Well there was the time the Turian's nearly wiped us out, that was fun," Wrex said, leaning against a wall with Shepard in front of him.

"I heard about that, the Genophage," Shepard crossed his arms as he spoke with the bigger Krogan.

"Yeah, a genetic infection that makes breeding virtually impossible, thousands die in still birth and no ones rushing to find a cure," Wrex sighed, something that Michael found rare for the veteran warrior.

"Why don't the Krogan find a cure?" Shepard asked.

"When's the last time you met a Krogan scientist? We're warriors Shepard, we **want** to fight, we'd prefer fighting to finding a cure. Besides I gave up on the Krogan a long time ago."

"Why's that?"

"A story for another time Shepard, I wanted to talk to you about this other mission of yours," Wrex said.

"What do you want to know?"

"These anomalies we're tracking, are they connected to Saren in some way or these Reapers that the kids harping on about?" Wrex asked.

"Right now we don't know, though I'm willing to assume yes or that they at least mean something more important than Saren and his Geth," Shepard explained.

"I see, I guess I cant argue with that logic, but let me tell you something Shepard, there's no way in hell the alliance is going to be able to keep this a secret. If other worlds are crashing into ours then its only a matter of time before the galaxy as a whole changes, and it might not be for the better," Wrex explained, narrowing his eyes at Michael as he walked past.

"You don't trust them do you, Bruce and Michael?" Shepard asked.

"I don't trust anyone Shepard, its how I've gotten by in the galaxy, but you're a warrior too you really think you and the kid aren't going to clash in some way or that your not going to clash with these other beings?"

"Maybe I will, maybe I wont, what I do know is that while they may not agree with my actions the people coming out of those rifts will want to stop men like Saren and I will use that to my advantage, but I will also keep my gun ready if they turn on me," Shepard explained.

Wrex laughed as he leant against the wall.

"Shepard I'd hate to be your enemy, all right you've proven your point, until next time Shepard," Wrex said.

"Yes, until next time Wrex," Shepard smirked as he walked away.

* * *

**Cerberus Shuttle**

Tony sat quietly in the shuttle, no longer using his usual whit. He had tried provoking the shuttle pilot, but the armoured man seemed to lack a sense of humour. Plus there was a door separating Tony from the pilot, an obstacle that would prevent Tony from overpowering his guard. For obvious reasons, hacking the shuttle door open was out of the question. Alls Tony could do was wait patiently for an opportunity to present itself. He felt the sudden shift in his weight and the subtle change in temperature, signifying that the shuttle had no entered an atmosphere. The windows were blacked out, preventing Tony from seeing his new prison. A slot on the wall opened in front of Tony and a black cloth was thrown onto Tony's lap.

"Put that on or the men behind the door will shoot you," the pilot said.

Sarcastically smiling, Tony put the hood on and focused on listening. He heard the hiss of bay doors and felt the bang of the shuttle landing. The ground was solid, possibly a landing pad or at least a makeshift one. He heard the door open at his side and turned his head only a fraction. The black hood only gave Tony a faded view of his captors, they were dressed in blue armour of some kind but the figures didn't all appear to be human.

"Get up human," one man growled, his voice had a unique tone, suggesting that his vocal chords were different than humans.

Tony allowed his guards to be rough with him, pulling him out of the shuttle by his neck. This allowed him to get a feel and identify what his guards were. They were all dressed in armour, though Tony felt that one guard had thinner arms than a human. He ran his hands across the chest, the armour was sturdy but was grafted over a body that already had natural organic armour. He had heard from Kelly that the Turians had natural armour.

"Get this idiot moving, come on," another man growled.

The accent was rugged and savage, as if every breath was a growl for the man, again suggesting that the speaker was alien. Tony's bones screamed as he felt the butt of a rifle strike his shoulder, forcing him to move forward. He stumbled, landing on dirt. Wherever his new prison was had probably been built on a low budget to avoid suspicion. That meant that it didn't stand out, probably being built at a natural landmark with only a small camp to support the staff. Smelling the air, Tony detected the hint of lab chemicals, suggesting uncontrolled environments with little safety. He also felt the stench of dead bodies, flies buzzing around him.

"Keep moving," his guard shoved him again.

The creak of a rusted door confirmed Tony's suspicion that the new prison was built on a low budget. He was pushed onto a small chair, his cuffs separated and attached to the arm rests. Finally his hood was removed and the bright light of a hanging bulb stunned Tony's eyes.

"So this is the latest addition?" someone asked from the shadows.

"Yes sir, our contact from outside the Terminus systems sent him to us, said he wants him put to work," the guard explained.

Tony turned his head slightly, seeing that the Turians were possibly evolved lizards or at least dextro based creatures. His keen scientific mind then switched off as he focused on the armour. A white symbol, like a sun stamped onto blue armour. There were a few Turians and some humans, though Tony couldn't guess if they really were human under the full armour.

"You know I'm noticing that there's no women here, do you guys at least offer…"stashes" or do you just get off on the prison action?" Tony asked.

A punch across the face was his expected reply.

"You will speak when spoken to," a four-eyed alien growled.

"I guess that answers my question on how you guys get entertained," Tony chuckled, clicking his neck back into place.

The man in the shadows stood up, walking away from his desk and into the light. He was in his sixties, his eyes hiding much hatred and contempt for his situation. A scar ran down his left eye, which was now sealed shut. Tony could smell the sweat and blood coming from the man, as he looked him in the eye.

"Victor told me that you couldn't keep your mouth shut, he told me you charmed one of his staff members, a Kelly Chambers. Well there's no eye candy here big man, this is a prison, and not a resort and you'll do as I say," the man explained.

"Your not coming onto me are you?" Tony asked.

The one eyed man clicked his fingers and the two guards held Tony firmly into the chair. Tony saw one of the men grab an old and grimy towel and knew what they were going to do. He struggled against his captors, knowing it was useless. A scream escaped his mouth as the two men pulled the towel firmly over his head. The commander then grabbed the nearby bucket of water and began to slowly pour the water onto the towel, letting it slowly seep onto Tony's face. Tony jerked and struggled, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop this.

Coping with the torture was easy, because Tony had been through it before when he was held hostage by terrorist forces. He had to cope with water boarding, beatings, his head being dunked into ice cold water and all of that with a battery replacing his heart. Fortunately his heart was back to normal and having lived through that experience and worse, Tony felt nothing. But he had to maintain an image:

"(Cough) oh god, please no more," he begged, gasping for air as the towel was pulled away from his face.

"Somehow I was expecting more, most of the men here are a little more defiant, even the Quarians," the commander sighed.

Tony knew he had to save his strength, but he also knew that he had to act in a way that would cause the guards to regard him as a weakling. Steve had taught him self-defence, but right now Tony's greatest asset was his mind, a mind that was already forming an escape plan.

"Take this weakling to the lab, put him to work with the others!"

Tony hid a smirk as he was lifted off the chair and dragged out of the room. He'd disappointed the commander and done exactly what he set out to do, make his guards underestimate him. That sense of ease would be exactly what Tony would use to his advantage. He groaned as he was thrown into sand. Examining his new surroundings Tony saw that the cell looked more like a cave. The facility was either built into a mountain formation or a system of caves.

"Welcome to the hole human!"

Tony allowed his fellow prisoners to help him up off the floor. They were mainly thin, amphibious aliens with black eyes. He noticed one or two aliens in strange environment suits. They must have been the Quarians, the aliens with weak immune systems Kelly mentioned.

"I believe you humans call it hell," one of the Quarians said.

"Nah, I went there last week, it looks nothing like this place," Tony grinned.

The aliens looked at him oddly before shrugging their shoulders. Tony limped over to one of the tables, furthering the deception that he was weak.

"What do they want from us?" he asked.

"Our minds, although pulling our brains out doesn't really help those Bosh'Tets," a Quarian in a white and red suit said.

"They have had us working on weapons though and systems to be used for hacking and taking over security systems," one of the Salarians said.

"But we cant use those systems against them because we are other constant watch," the same Quarian said, motioning to the cameras.

"Who are these people?" Tony asked.

"The Blue Suns, and we're are some of the smartest people in our fields, though not smart to the point where anyone will miss us," the Salarian said.

"Well I suppose we shoulder introduce ourselves then, I'm Tony," he said, offering the Quarian his hand.

"Don't get too friendly you might not live long enough anyway," the Quarian said.

"What's his problem?" Tony frowned at the Quarian as he walked away.

"I heard he's an important part of the Quarian government," the Salarian said.

"They don't have a government," a four-eyed alien said.

"The admiralty board is more of a government then your barbaric slaving businesses," a blue suited Quarian said.

The Batarian growled and lunged at the Quarian, tackling him to the floor. Tony took a seat at a rock and began dragging his finger across the sand. While the Batarian fought with the Quarian, Tony feigned disinterest and drew complex equations that the guards wouldn't have understood even if they were focused on the fight. But the Quarian in the red suit looked over at the sand drawings and his initial dismissal of Tony was replaced by mild interest. Tony brushed the sand, destroying the equations he had already committed to memory as the door opened.

"ENOUGH YOU IDIOTS!" the Batarian guard yelled, picking up the Quarian by the tube of his suit.

"Wait we were just taking a break and things got out of hand," the Salarian said.

"Enough excuses, you all know the penalty for dismissing your work," The Batarian said as he yanked off the Quarian's mask.

Tony widened his eyes as he saw the oddly human Quarian fall to the floor. He fell down, sweat dripping from his face before he begun to shake. The Quarian was reacting to the unclean atmosphere, falling into a seizure that resembled an acute allergic reaction. As his fellow Quarian suffered, the red suited Quarian squeezed his hands into fists. But he stayed still, just like the other prisoners.

"Give him back the mask Reyak!"

The Batarian dropped the mask as the Blue Sun's commander entered the room. He kicked the mask to the Quarian, allowing him to seal the device back over his face.

"Oh thank you, thank you," the Quarian gasped as he was lifted off the ground.

"You waste our time, you die slowly," the Commander said.

He activated his Omni tool and release a burst of electricity that popped the core of the suit. The Quarian slammed head first into the ground, the lights of his visor shutting down.

"NO!" the red suited Quarian yelled.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU! You're here for one thing and one thing only, to make weapons that we can use to destroy our enemies, you make them, you give them to us or we'll do to you and all of your people what we did to this man here," the commander kicked the wounded Quarian and walked out of the room.

"Oh my god," the Salarian gasped, rushing to the Quarian's side.

"They've destroyed the power source for his suit," another Salarian said.

"Not quite as bad as when they cut open that Volus's suit but he's still gonna die slowly," the Batarian said.

Tony stared at the Quarian struggling for survival. It reminded him of the time the shrapnel sunk into his heart, with only the power of the iron man armour to save him. Now these thugs and xenophobes wanted his help in making more iron men.

'All right, you want me to make weapons I'll make weapons, cause if there's one thing Tony Stark's good at its making weapons,' Tony thought as he helped the Quarian up. "We need to move quickly, I need you all to shut up and provide me with the materials I ask for," Tony explained.

"And why should we follow your orders?" the Quarian in the red suit asked.

"Because I'm the man that's gonna save your friend, if you give a damn about your people then you'll get over yourself and help me," Tony said, glaring at the Quarian.

The Quarian stood there in silence for but a mere moment before offering Tony his hand.

"Rael'Zorah," he said.

"Tony Stark," Tony shook the Quarian's hand and turned to the table. "Now lets do what they told us to do and start building!"

* * *

**Project Dimension facility**

Emma Frost brushed her hair back as her guards took her across the facility. While Rogers and Spider-man were dragged off to god knows where she was handled gently and placed in a room of total darkness. The platform she stood on suddenly lit up and holographic beams swept over Emma's body. She looked at her surroundings and then straight into the darkness as it shifted to reveal a man sitting at a chair. The man sat in a command centre in an "office" that was devoid of computers. Its only decoration was the magnificent sight of the dying sun behind it. The sun illuminated the finely dressed man, his eyes giving off an inhuman shine. He raised a cigar to his lips and took a drag as Emma crossed her arms.

"Emma Frost: she appears to be a cold woman with a sarcastic personality and sense of humour, however this is merely a front to cover up her many insecurities and regrets," the man blew out a cloud of smoke as he read from his terminal.

"Ah that disgustingly cheerful bimbo gave you the psyche report she read about me, it may be at least fifty percent accurate but don't think I'm impressed, or that I'm just going to bow my head in shame for you to comfort me," Emma explained.

"Indeed, Miss Frost I have no interest in your past, your motivations would be a concern but right now I wont hide the fact that you can be very useful to me and I can be very useful to you," the man stated, swirling his scotch glass.

"Your obviously a very rich man and very smart not to meet me in person," Emma smirked.

"Yes I'm well aware of your psychic abilities, if not for Victor's inhibitors you would have the guards following your every command. But there are some things even Victor's technology cant stop," the gentleman raised the glass to his lips, tilting the liquid down his throat while Emma tapped her foot against the floor. "What I am referring to is something we've labelled Indoctrination!"

He looked Emma in the eyes and despite her demeanour Emma resisted the urge to shiver. Though not as physically intimidating Emma got the feeling that this man contacting her from across the galaxy was just as dangerous as Sebastian Shaw.

"I'll get straight to the point Miss Frost, I asked those loyal to me to keep this conversation out of Victor's gaze. Victor is a powerful asset but ambitious, and I don't trust him. Which is why I want you to act as my eyes and ears in Project Dimension, but I also want you to teach those that are loyal to me how to resist mental control," he explained.

"And just what do I gain from this?" Emma asked.

"Barring the release of your dangerous and idealistic friends I can provide you with whatever you want, transportation to go back to your own home world, or perhaps credits and the necessary items to establish a new life in this universe, though I get the feeling that you want something that will benefit humanity as a whole, something that is mutually beneficial for both of us," the man explained as he pressed his cigar into the ashtray.

Emma smiled as she relaxed her arms.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were psychic Mr…"

"The Alliance came up with a name that's actually stuck quite well, they call me the Illusive man," the man got off his chair, walking closer to Emma's holographic projection.

"A rather vague name, if that's the case call me Emma. I can give you what you need, but I want reassurance that you'll give me what I want," Emma explained.

"Yes, I will have my scientists build a machine that will utilise magnetic waves to amplify your abilities, allowing you to track down all children with biotic abilities. In fact I already thought of your first test of loyalty, there's a very specific biotic I want found, she requires a little re-education but I'm sure you'll have no problem finding her," the Illusive man explained.

Emma chuckled as she thought on the man's offer.

"Don't worry Mr Man, I'll not only find her, I'll give this girl the re-education she needs, cause if there's anything I'm good at doing its educating people," Emma smirked.

"Excellent, I'll have my men deliver the device as soon as its ready though for now I'll forward all the information I have on the target to your guard. Just ask him to give you the file labelled "Subject Zero!""

Next Chapter 16: Discovery

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time we return to Shepard and the crew for a whole chapter with them finding the remains of a ship from the Marvel universe and some unexpected (and in one crew members case unwanted) survivors.

And yes Tony is in a prison with Rael Zorah, the father of everyone's favourite Quarian. Yes criticizers he would have a plan for escape, but Tony has a plan to make sure no one else dies. You'll have to wait and see just how far he'll go.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel or Mass Effect

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 16: Discovery

Shepard fastened the clips of his armour as he prepared for the next mission. The Normandy had passed through the mass relay and entered the uncharted system only an hour ago. He fastened the N7 shoulder pad to his suit and took his rifle off the gun rack. Shepard examined the weapon; his favourite rifle the N7 issued Valkyrie. Attaching the rifle to the magnets on his back, Shepard turned to the other crewmembers. A small engineering ground team and some marines would be going down with the group. The escort team all wore heavy blue and grey armour, the standard model of the Alliance. They took Avenger assault rifles and fastened the breather helmets onto their necks. The science team mainly consisted of crewman from engineering. Liara T'Soni however was also joining them, dressing herself into light black armour.

"They go on like this Liara," Michael said as he fastened a chunk of armour to Liara's hip.

"Thank you Michael," Liara said.

Shepard noticed the grin on Bruce's face as he dressed into the Hydra model armour Kaidan had given him. No doubt he found the green suit rather ironic. Tali dressed in her usual suit, equipping a Katana shotgun to her waist.

"All right people listen up, this is a highly classified mission, there will be no discussing what has occurred here outside of the Normandy, have I made myself clear?" Shepard asked.

"Yes sir!" the crewmembers said in unison.

"Commander we're approaching the wreckage now, wait till you see it sir," Joker said over the intercom.

Joker sounded excited and the crew was anxious. Shepard noticed that Michael and Bruce were particularly nervous. Though the anomaly was long gone they held high hopes for the possibility of finding more people from other realities. But that was only if they found survivors. The Normandy hovered over a mountain landscape and opened its cargo hatch. Michael gripped one of the safety bars as he looked at the surface of the unmapped planet. The atmosphere was similar to Earth, but the region appeared to primarily be a jungle world. Some might have called it paradise if not for the wrecked ships that had flattened a nearby forest.

"I gotta say despite its appearance this is the last place you'd want to end up," Kaidan said, sitting beside Joker in the cockpit.

"I don't know Alenko, if the Normandy ever crashes I'd want to end up on a world like this," Joker quipped.

"Don't even make a joke like that," Ashley said, standing behind the two men.

Liara and a few of the scientists took the Mako down the mountain with the escort team following shortly behind. Shepard however walked with Michael and Tali down a separate path. The once beautiful jungle had become a graveyard of ships. Joker identified two of the bigger ships as cruisers, while a frigate had embedded itself inside one of the mountains.

"Michael what can you tell me about these ships, do you know them?" Shepard asked.

"I've only seen pictures sir but I think they're Kree," Michael said.

"What's a Kree?" Tali asked.

"I only know because I read about it at Camp Hammond, but according to the files the Kree are a space faring race of warriors that more than once tried to conquer Earth. They're more advanced than humans but other than a few rare cases in terms of their physiology they're virtually identical to humans. However the difference lies in their skin colours, a majority of the Kree are blue skinned, but apparently it was becoming common for there to be white skinned Kree, basically Kree that were identical to Caucasian humans," Michael explained.

"A culture of warriors, sounds like Wrex would like them," Shepard said.

"Some of the Kree were warriors, others were just simple soldiers following orders. The orders came from the Kree Supreme Intelligence, I'm not entirely sure what the Supreme Intelligence was exactly but I do know what it looks like…lets just say it makes Wrex looks handsome," Michael chuckled.

"All of these ships are Kree model right? What exactly would have been powerful enough to destroy them all?" Shepard asked.

"I shudder to think what it might be," Michael muttered.

Liara and Bruce climbed out of the Mako, walking across the ship graveyard with two marines escorting them. Liara analysed the debris with her Omni-tool, whilst Bruce simply looked at the damage.

"The hull was torn open, but a majority of the damage came from an energy weapon of some kind," Bruce said.

"You can identify this damage without scanning it?" Liara asked.

"I've come across a lot of wrecks in my life," Bruce lowered his head slightly.

Liara cast a sympathetic look at the good doctor. She could tell Bruce's seemingly positive and humorous outlook on life was a façade to make up for the damage the Hulk had done to his mind. He felt truly guilty for the destruction the Hulk brought.

"Being a scientist means being able to know certain things without the use of a machine, you're an archaeologist you must know this," Bruce explained as he lifted up a piece of rubble. "Ah Ha, Liara come and take a look at this!"

Liara walked to Bruce's side, deactivating her Omni-tool. Bruce had discovered some kind of metallic being. Specifically it was the head and torso of a gigantic robot, its purple and silver armour dirtied and damaged to the point where it had lost its shine and vigour. Liara stared at the robot in astonishment, whatever it was before it must have been gigantic, three times the size of the massive Geth Juggernauts.

"This was once a Kree Sentry droid, robots of incredible power that the Kree would shoot onto the surface of a planet, the Sentry would then assess the indigenous life form's fighting strength and disarm them so that the Kree could move into the planet and conquer it with minimum effort required," Bruce explained. "Now look at the chest, what does this damage here tell you?"

Liara looked at the robot with a flash of intrigue in her eyes. The Sentry had a large hole in its chest, a puncture wound of some kind. However the damage had only just recently been done.

"Something was ripped out of its chest," Liara said.

"Good, the damage looks quite recent but a lot of this metal has begun to rust over the planets periods of natural storms. I'd calculate that the Sentry was still active for at least a week before it was shut down," Bruce climbed on top of the machine and poked his hand into the hole. "The power source itself was destroyed but judging from the wiring I'd say something else was taken."

Suddenly, Bruce jerked his hand back.

"What's wrong?" Liara asked.

"Take a look," Bruce sighed.

Several insects crawled out of the hole, brandishing metallic pincers.

"Oh look at that, the doc got bit, you want a band aid?" one of the marines asked.

The other marines laughed as Liara checked Bruce's wound with her Omni-tool.

"No sign of poisons, the Qunari simply bit you to draw you away," Liara said.

"Qunari? Interesting name for a bug, still those are a pair of big stingers, wouldn't want to get stung by those," Bruce chuckled.

"Actually that is a male Qunari, they only sting when competing for a female Qunari, which carries fatal poison," Liara said casually, causing Bruce to shiver.

* * *

Shepard and his squad made their way to the crashed frigate. The marines and engineers following them nervously approached the ship. Shepard took his rifle off his back and activated the light hidden on the barrel. He shined the light into the ship, which had become a dark abyss of scrap and ruin. The scent of blood and carcasses stung Shepard's nostrils, but it wasn't a sound that bothered him. Michael however clutched his throat as the horrific smell struck his nose. Tali followed with the marines, her suit's mask filtering out any harmful chemicals, including the ghastly smell. As more entered the ship, the tap of boots against metal began to echo throughout the ship.

"Commander, over here," one of the marines said.

Shepard walked to the marines side and shined his light onto the face of a rotted husk of a man. The corpse was a blue skinned Kree, it had multiple holes on its chest with dried blood on the floor.

"Gunshot wounds, point blank range," Shepard said.

"What do you think happened here?" Tali asked.

"A massive ship crashed on an unknown planet in an unknown system with no way of contacting help, its safe to assume that naturally the discipline and order began to fall apart. Whatever choices were made obviously had opposition, so the crew mutinied," Shepard explained.

"Maybe the planets indigenous life forms got here," Michael said.

"Animals can't hold guns, no whatever did this obviously had the fingers to pull a trigger," Shepard walked away from the body and crossed one of the corners.

He widened his eyes slightly as he saw a swath of bodies hung on wires and spread out across the floor. Their armour and skin had been disintegrated, necks crushed and brain mattered splattered across the floor, or on the walls. The bodies rounded up to at least twenty, the size of a large security detail.

"Someone's been cleaning house," Michael said.

"Keelah, all this blood shed over a mutiny," Tali whispered.

"I'm starting to think this wasn't a mutiny, but a purge, something was on this ship, looking for survivors and then killing them," Shepard explained.

"The holes on the side of the ship must have come from energy weapons, let's look around and see what we find," Tali suggested.

Shepard walked over to one of the walls and wiped the blood off of it. He looked at what resembled a map, though it was marked in the Kree language. However Shepard had been on enough ships to know that generally the layouts of ships were the same, the only thing that needed to be taken into account was size. Considering the size of the ship in comparison to the mountain it was safe to say that the frigate was twice the size of the Normandy.

"I've worked out where engineering is, lets try our search there first," Shepard said.

The search team walked deeper and deeper into the ship, coming across more and more bodies. Medics would occasionally stop to analyse the Kree anatomy and more than once Shepard had to reprimand the marines for taking photos.

"No photography, there's too great a chance of information leaking," Shepard said as he forcefully deleted a photo of an impaled Kree soldier.

"You notice the helmets look similar to Greek armour?" one of the marines asked.

"Space Greeks," another chuckled.

"Quiet," Shepard growled.

The team stopped as a tapping sound was heard in the distance. Someone else was in the ship. Shepard stood his ground and ordered the squad to do the same as the footsteps grew softer.

'No, not softer, he's getting further away,' Shepard thought.

Suddenly, Michael broke off into a run, rushing past Shepard and down the corridor.

"VAN PATRICK STOP!" Shepard yelled.

But Michael kept on running, sliding across the floor as an energy blast was launched towards him. He immediately jumped to his feet and dived at the attacker. They both slammed into the wall, with Michael gripping the attacker's arm. He pulled his head back, barely dodging a blast that fired from the small energy pistol. His attacker kicked him in the chest, throwing him back. Michael immediately drew his pistol, aiming it at the attacker. The light illuminated the man's form, revealing him for all to see. He wore a white uniform, with green armoured gloves and boots. A green orb glowed on his chest, attached to the green neck and shoulder armour. A Greek styled helmet obscured his face.

"Freeze, don't move," Shepard growled as he and the marines approached the Kree officer. "Identify yourself!"

"The closest human equivalent of my rank would be your navy's captain class," the Kree said.

Michael narrowed his eyes at the Kree, trying to recognise the voice. For some reason he felt like he had heard the voice before at Camp Hammond.

"What happened here?" Tali asked.

"What in the name of Intelligence is that?" The Kree asked, pointing at Tali.

"My name is Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya, I am a Quarian," Tali spoke defensively, but also with the hint of pride in her voice.

"What are Quarians?"

"Listen there's a lot you don't know, there's also a lot we don't know, lets just talk, that way we'll all be able to come to a mutually beneficial decision," Michael explained as he got off the floor.

"You heard the kid, you're outnumbered…"

"But not outmatched!"

The Kree suddenly swung his arm around, firing an energy blast into one of the marines. He grabbed the barrel of Shepard's gun and pushed it up, causing Shepard to fire several bullets into the ceiling. Shepard and the Kree grabbed one another's arms, trying to pry their weapons off one another. The Kree kicked another marine back and blocked a punch to his face. He then threw a punch at Shepard, only for Shepard to deliver an uppercut to his head. Shepard drew out his Omni-blade and stuck it into the Kree's plasma pistol. Throwing the weapon aside, the Kree pulled his arm back and fired a concussive blast into Shepard's chest, throwing him against the wall.

"Wait we can talk…"

Again the Kree interrupted any offer and grabbed Michael by his hair, slamming him head first in the wall. Tali drew her shotgun, only for the Kree to deliver a vicious punch to her chest. Michael lashed out with his foot, hitting the Kree's helmet off his head. The helmet bounced across the floor, releasing echoes throughout the ship. Tali gasped as she was lifted off the floor and thrown on top of Michael. The Kree grabbed Tali's shotgun and swung around, stopping with the gun in Shepard's face. But Shepard also gripped the handle of his Carnifex hand cannon, aiming it at the Kree's forehead.

"Maybe not outmatched, but one man can only achieve so much," Shepard said.

Remarkably Shepard remained very calm. Michael helped Tali off the floor and looked at the Kree officer. Underneath the helmet he looked like a Caucasian human, he was the 'pink skinned' class of Kree. He looked to be as old as Shepard with calm blue eyes and short blonde hair.

"Your Captain Marvel," Michael said.

"It is Mar-Vell, and how do you know my name human?" the Kree asked.

Shepard used the moment of distraction to slip past Mar-Vell and slam the back of the Carnifex into his head. Mar-Vell fell to his knees, cursing as the other marines surrounded him.

"Now get up off the floor slowly, put your hands behind your back and don't try to slip out again," Shepard said.

Mar-Vell grit his teeth together as he rose from his knees. One of the marines cuffed his hands together and pushed him forward.

"Are there any other survivors here?" Shepard asked.

The Kree remained silent, cringing only slightly as one of the marines struck him with the butt of his rifle.

"None that are Kree," Mar-Vell said, glaring at Shepard.

The cryptic response caused Tali to shiver before the marines pushed Mar-Vell on a path that would take them off the ship.

* * *

Bruce and Liara's exploration team continued to search the wreckage. Liara was thankful to be amongst respectful humans, humans that pulled the dead out of the rubble and straightened their bodies out. A line had formed of dead Kree crewmembers and Liara prayed to the goddess for the young ones.

"I am not familiar with Kree ages, but some of these soldiers seem **very** young," Liara said.

"They are, Kree aging isn't all that different from humans, though they develop differently. From what I know Kree are capable of working very young, a teenager…that's kind of the equivalent of a maiden would be drafted into the army as opposed to a college," Bruce explained and sighed as yet another Kree boy was pulled from the rubble.

Liara watched Bruce rub the sweat out of his eyes, checking his heart rate on his Omni-tool.

"Come on, let's try searching for something we can salvage," Bruce said.

"Yes!"

The Asari maiden followed Bruce back onto the wreckage and resumed their search. Liara checked her Omni-tool for energy readings, whilst Bruce randomly picked up pieces of tech or rubble.

"A lot of this stuff was workable but then stripped for parts," Bruce noted.

"Perhaps someone was using the parts to create a signal of some kind," Liara suggested.

"Maybe, though that would only require only small parts, some of the weapons we've found have been stripped entirely. Liara take a look at this piece of hull here, something tore this off quite recently," Bruce explained.

"Yes, I recognise the age pattern, this has not yet decayed in the manner a week old slab would," Liara said.

"Someone wasn't just taking parts from weapons but pieces from the hull too," Bruce rubbed his chin as he thought.

"Perhaps they were trying to build or repair something," Liara said.

"That would be a logical assumption!"

"I thought it would," Liara smiled.

"Liara…that wasn't me who just spoke," Bruce looked at the floor in suspicion.

Liara reached for her pistol as she stepped away from the sheet of metal she and Bruce had been standing on.

"I am underneath here, do not be afraid," the voice was hollow, yet carried a hint of reassurance.

Bruce bent his knees and groaned as he tried picking up the slab. He fell back as Liara threw the slab aside with her Biotics. Liara aimed her gun at the object underneath the slab, looking at it with caution. Bruce crawled across the floor and looked at the object closely.

"Its…a head," Liara gulped.

"An obvious yet correct conclusion!"

Liara backed away in fear, whilst Bruce rubbed his head and laughed. The head was a familiar face, a red skinned face with yellow eyes and a yellow jewel on the forehead. Some of his 'skin' had been scraped off, revealing metal on the left side of his face. A metallic spine, with numerous wires poking out ran where his neck should have been.

"Dr Banner, it is good to see a familiar face, I have been buried here for a week now and as you see require aid to move," the head explained.

"Your improving your sense of humour I see," Bruce chuckled.

"That was not a joke!"

Bruce sighed as he picked the head up and turned to Liara.

"Liara T'Soni, meet Victor Shade, AKA Vision," Bruce said.

"Greetings Miss T'Soni, might I inquire as to what species you are?" Vision asked.

"I…I am an Asari," Liara spoke nervously as the android stared at her.

"There is no need to be afraid, the only weapon I possess are my eye blasters and as I am now I have no way in benefiting from your death," Vision explained.

Liara looked to Bruce, showing him her nervous expression.

"Vision can be a little blunt, he's not violent I assure you," Bruce said.

"Dr Banner speaks the truth, I am at a stage of my life where I have learned to control my emotions, an outburst would not be appropriate or necessary at this time as I have already grieved."

"Grieved, what happened Vision?" Bruce asked.

"I will explain…"Vision paused, his eyebrows raised as if he had just realised something. "Quickly, you must contact your friends and leave this place immediately," he said.

"What's happening?"

"His scanners were disabled but mine weren't, you must move away immediately before he arrives!"

"Who is he Vision?" Liara asked.

Bruce widened his eyes in shock as he heard the hum of a machine charging. He grabbed Liara, diving with her to the floor as a red energy wave flew over their heads. Liara and Bruce looked over their shoulders and gasped at what they saw. Walking towards them, with pieces of sentry armour strapped over its spiked silver armour was a machine. It was just as big as the Geth Juggernauts, its head decorated with a pair of antennas and a glowing region that resembled a huge snarling mouth. Vision recognised him instantly, his fellow AI Ultron.

"RUN!" Vision yelled.

Shepard raised his hand, halting his group. Without the sound of their footsteps filling the ships hull, Shepard and his team finally heard the surge of energy blasts being fired outside.

"Liara what's going on out there?" Michael asked.

"Bruce, anyone on this frequency?" Tali checked her radio.

"What did you mean when you said there were no Kree survivors?" Shepard asked the captain.

"I mean that the one that destroyed our fleet left its tool behind," Mar-Vell said, not even bothering to face Shepard.

"Everyone on me, Joker converge on the drop point we might need a pick up," Shepard stated as he pushed Mar-Vell in the direction they were working. "Release Marvel's cuffs," Shepard said to one of the marines.

"Its Mar-Vell!"

"But sir, we cant trust this alien," the marine said.

"I gave you an order marine, he knows more about the threat than we do, release his cuffs and give him a gun," Shepard ordered.

"Yes sir," the marine grudgingly ran his Omni-tool over the cuffs, releasing them.

A smug grin crossed Mar-Vell's face as the cuffs clattered to the ground. He pressed a button on his belt, causing the armour on his arm to shape a pistol into his hand.

"Departing yourself of your primitive guns wont be necessary," Mar-Vell said.

"Okay, those aren't Nega-bands but that looks just as bad ass," Michael whistled.

"What are Nega-bands?" Tali asked.

"Will you help us?" Shepard asked, giving Mar-vell his helmet.

Mar-Vell simply nodded his head as he put the helmet on. It darkened his face and Michael realised that it must have been specifically designed to hide his pink skin. The squad of marines ran out of the ship and down the hill to the ship graveyard. Michael's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the Ultron robot, decimating the science team. Liara and Bruce were hid behind the cover of a rock, while several marines were hopelessly firing their weapons at Ultron. The robot prepared its head mounted laser cannon, ignoring the bullets that bounced on its armour.

"ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF THERE!" Michael yelled.

The warning came too late as Ultron fired a blast that burned two marines, melting their armour to their skin. Liara picked up a piece of debris with her biotics and threw it towards the robot. But Ultron quickly fired a blast into the slab, blowing it to bits.

"Any advice?" Tali asked Mar-Vell.

"Get a bigger gun," Mar-Vell sighed.

Shepard aimed his rifle and on his unspoken command, the squad began firing their weapons at Ultron. The barrage struck Ultron, pushing it back slightly. Liara then took her chance and used her biotics to lift Ultron into the air. Then she thrust her hand forward, throwing him back by miles.

"Good job T'Soni, Joker where are you?" Shepard asked.

"I'm still with you Commander, I'm just circling over the area now," Joker said.

"Draw its attention," Shepard said as the Normandy flew over the area.

"Draw what's attention?"

Ultron raised its head, watching the Normandy fly over the area. It immediately fired a blast from its face, hitting the bottom of the ship. The cockpit shook and Joker immediately began tapping the controls.

"Okay forget I asked," he said, inwardly chuckling as he flew into the air.

Ultron fired multiple blasts from its face, causing the Normandy to carry out multiple aerial manoeuvres. Like Joker the robot was merely distracted the Normandy, in case the human commander was on board and was willing to sacrifice his or her men. But as the Normandy flew out of sight, Ultron caught a glimpse of Shepard shouting orders before an electronic pulse ran over the robots armour. Ultron fell to one knee before two grenades slammed into its armour.

"Your technology is more advanced than ours, do you have anything than can punch through that armour?" Shepard asked Mar-Vell.

"A plasma cannon built into my right arm, but to use it I'll have to use up energy on the armour that I need to conserve," Mar-Vell explained.

"Use it, this is an emergency," Michael said.

"I told you I need to converse this energy," Mar-Vell's eyes glared at the human boy.

"I don't intend to take you prisoner if you help us but the only way you can do that is if you hit that machine with everything you've got," Shepard explained.

Mar-Vell grit his teeth together, gripping his pistol tightly.

"If…if this suit runs out of power and if I cant find a power source that will replace it then…I'll die!"

Tali and Michael widened their eyes while Shepard shook his head.

"Fine, I wont ask you to throw your life away for strangers, but we need guidance on how to pierce that armour," Shepard said.

Mar-Vell looked at Ultron as it got up off the floor. It fired another blast, killing a marine right next to Tali. Michael grabbed Tali and dived with her down the hill, using it as a slid to avoid Ultron's next plan. Shepard and Mar-Vell jumped after Michael, the two professional soldiers rolling as they reached the end of the slope. Mar-Vell fired a blast from his pistol, hitting Ultron in the head. Shepard then threw his frag grenades and shot each one in midair, creating a series of explosions around Ultron.

"During the battle with our fleet Ultron suffered damage to his chest area, he's used Sentry droid armour to patch it up," Mar-Vell explained.

"That armours weaker than the rest of its body, if we break that I should be able to overload his power source," Tali said.

"Yes, that would be most effective," Vision said as Bruce ran to Tali's side.

"Keelah! Bruce do you have any idea what that is?" Tali asked, stepping away from Vision in shock.

"Vision, your Vision right?" Michael asked the head.

"Yes, though I am an alternate version of the one you and Dr Banner are familiar with, I hail from Captain Mar-Vell's reality, a world where the Kree work in coexistence with Earth," Vision explained.

"You're an artificial intelligence?" Shepard asked.

"An oversimplification, but yes I do fall into the category of an artificial intelligence…I would recommend evasive action now!"

The group dived into a trench as Ultron fired another blast. Liara remained on the ground, attempting to push Ultron back with her biotics. The machine turned to the Asari and prepared to fire another blast. Liara crouched on the floor, closing her eyes as she slammed her hands down. A Biotic bubble appeared around Liara, shielding her from Ultron's blast. Sweat ran down Liara's face as the searing heat of Ultron's laser threatened to burst the barrier.

"Tali see if you can connect your Omni-tool to Mar-Vell's suit, use the mass effect field to power his weaponry, Michael you're with me," Shepard climbed out of the trench, followed shortly by Michael.

Shepard fired his Valkyrie, drawing Ultron's attention away from Liara. The young Asari promptly fainted as her barrier disappeared. Michael and Shepard ran to the cover of a fallen Kree fighter as Ultron fired at them. Tali muttered Quarian curses as she cycled through various commands on her Omni-tool. Mar-Vell shaped his pistol into a cannon, one that covered his whole right hand.

"Bosh'Tet, we don't have the necessary parts, scrap the head and see what we can use there," Tali said.

"Vision is a synthezoid, what's left of him is inefficient to the task we require of him," Mar-Vell said.

"Not necessarily, there is a way I may prove useful, in fact vital to Ultron's defeat," Vision pointed out.

"What did you have in mind Vision?" Bruce asked.

"I am still in possession of my density manipulation abilities, by phasing through Ultron's chest I can use my eye blasters to cut through his armour, thus enabling your friend to overload Ultron's back up power source," Vision explained.

"But how are you going to phase through Ultron's chest?"

Vision raised his eyebrow, as if in disbelief of Bruce's question. Bruce looked at the machine for a moment before running his hand down the metal spine.

"Anyone a good hammer thrower?" he asked.

Shepard and Michael fired full clips into Ultron's armour and had so far done nothing to affect the machine. Ultron fired one blast after another at the ship they hid behind. One beam cut through the wing, inches from Shepard's head. Shepard rolled away from his hiding spot, checking the burn that formed on his right ear. Michael patted and shook his gun, trying to cool it down as Ultron walked around the fighter. Ultron swung his arm around, catching Michael in the shoulder and throwing him into Shepard. Michael yelled as he felt his shoulder dislocate from the blow.

"Stupidest idea I've ever heard," Tali cursed as she ran towards Ultron.

She brandished Vision's head like a morning star, swinging it around and around. Vision showed no signs of being bothered by the movement, even as he was sent flying towards the bigger machine. Shepard rolled Michael down onto the trench, firing his Carnifex pistol at Ultron. The robot's 'face' began to glow read as it charged its laser. Suddenly, Vision flew through Ultron's back, creating a 'dong' sound that halted Shepard and Ultron's actions. Ultron raised its head as if gasping in horror.

"This is where you say 'oh shit'" Shepard smirked.

Shepard shielded his eyes as red beams tore through Ultron's chest. Vision rolled out of the robot's body, stopping at Shepard's legs. Ultron seemed to let out groans of pain as it stumbled backwards, pieces of its chest armour falling from its body. Tali aimed her Omni-tool at Ultron and punched in the command. Ultron's exposed power source burst like a light bulb as electricity ran across its armour. The robot crashed to the ground, its upper body separating from its legs.

"Okay, that was bad ass," Michael said, groaning as he climbed out of the trench.

Tali crossed her arms together, smiling underneath her mask as Bruce and Mar-Vell walked towards her. The remaining scientists and marines also came to her side, applauding her throw. Shepard slammed his arm into Michael's shoulder clicking it back into place.

"Go see the doctor when you get back, that goes for our new crew member as well," Shepard's eyed Mar-Vell, regarding him with suspicion.

"Don't forget the greatest Avenger in history," Michael grinned as he picked up Vision's head.

"You are too kind Michael Van Patrick," Vision said.

"Wait how do you know my name?" Michael asked.

"In my reality you are Steve Rogers's successor."

"I become Captain America in your world?"

"Yes!"

"Alternate realities, what a beautiful thing," Bruce sighed, walking over to the group.

"Goddess, Michael are you all right?" Liara asked, seeing how Michael favoured his shoulder.

The Normandy soon flew over the area, opening its hatch as several medics excited the cargo bay. Wrex rushed down the ramp, brandishing a shotgun.

"WHAT!" the Krogan yelled. "You end up fighting a robot the size of a Juggernaut and you don't change into the Hulk?" he asked Bruce.

Bruce smiled sheepishly whilst Tali shook her head.

"Tell Chakwas we have a new crew member, she needs to carry out an examination of his health," Shepard said to one of the medics.

"What about Vision?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, we can't leave him here," Michael said.

"Commander they are right, Vision has shown no signs of hostility to us, in fact it even saved our lives," Liara walked between Bruce and Michael, defending the synthezoid.

"Commander Shepard that thing is an AI, like the Geth, we cant trust something like that," Tali said.

"Enough all of you!"

All suggestions stopped at Shepard's command as he turned to address the crew.

"We've confirmed that Mar-Vell is the only organic survivor of this incident, after he has been medically examined he will debrief us on the events that took place before he arrived in our reality. You will all return to your posts and Michael, take the Vision…"

"Vision!" the head interrupted Shepard's speech. "It is pronounced simply Vision, not 'the' Vision!"

Wrex let out a laugh at Vision's correction, while Liara and Bruce did their best to hide their amusement. Shepard's frown indicated that he wasn't impressed.

"Fine Michael, take Vision to a storage room away from vital systems, we'll keep it there until we can figure out what to do with it," Shepard explained.

"You mean him," Bruce corrected, his eyes flaring in anger at Shepard.

Shepard shook aside Bruce's glare and motioned for everyone to get in. The crew moved up the ramp and into Normandy's cargo bay. All but Mar-Vell moved, his eyes fixed on the graveyard of Kree ships and bodies. Shepard moved to the man's side, gripping his shoulder.

"We don't have enough room to bring every dead soldier on board, Admiral Hackett will most likely collect the bodies later," he explained.

"To give them a soldier's burial or to study them?" Mar-Vell asked.

The two men stared at one another intensively. Neither frowned nor glared, but there was a clear dislike for another. Shepard turned and walked up the ramp. Mar-Vell sighed as he looked at the dead Kree gathered. He saluted his fallen crew before following the Commander onto the Normandy. The Captain swore that if he ever saw those ships with the tentacles again, he would personally destroy them for what they had done.

Next Chapter 17: Discovery mission debriefing

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, I made Mar-Vell's armour a fusion of the one he wears in the Ultimate universe and the Kree officer uniform Genis-Vell wears. Next time Michael settles Vision into the Normandy while Mar-vell reveals what happened to the Kree empire.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: i dont own Marvel or Mass Effect

* * *

Mass Effect Dimensions

Chapter 17: Discovery Mission Debriefing

The team, minus the new additions assembled in the briefing room. Shepard stood at the communication terminal, typing in the last letters of a report for Admiral Hackett. He turned to the team and began the debriefing.

"As you all saw, the Kree fleet was wiped out by an as of yet unknown enemy, as soon as Mar-Vell has finished his medical examination he will join us as a member of the ground team. He will also brief us on the force that destroyed his fleet and the events that took place prior to him leaving his reality," Shepard explained.

"A member of a warrior race, I'm liking this guy already," Wrex grinned.

"Don't tell me you want to fight him?" Garrus asked.

"Ha, from what I know these Kree are like humans, easy to squash," the Krogan chuckled.

"Hiding Mar-Vell's status an alien being will be easy, he resembles a human after all. The real concern is Vision, the robot head we recovered from the wreckage," Shepard said.

"I've had enough experience with the Geth to know that keeping it would be a bad idea sir," Ashley said.

"Vision isn't an it, he's a he," Michael defended the droid, causing the others to look at him.

"We learnt a long time ago Michael that AI's are dangerous," Tali said.

"Why because of the Geth? Why exactly are you so prejudiced against artificial beings?" Michael asked.

The other crewmembers remained silent as Tali lowered her head. Bruce recognised the shake of her body, it was one he had unwillingly used many a time. She slammed her hand into the armrest and looked straight at Michael, her eyes narrowing into a glare.

"My people created the Geth centuries ago, then they drove us from our home world, forcing us to live in sterile environments and ruining our immune systems," Tali explained.

"Why did they drive you off? Even though some machines are capable of emotions, they wont perform certain actions unless logic is included in their decisions. They didn't drive the Quarians away for no reason, what did the Quarians do to justify the Geth uprising?"

"How dare you, you sympathise with the Geth, you use the words justified and logical when our people have lost our homes…"

"To be fair Tali, the Quarians were engaging in AI research," Garrus interrupted.

"It wasn't AI research, the Geth neural network developed in ways we hadn't anticipated," Tali said.

"But you were going into territory that was unpredictable," Ashley said.

"We were making our lives better, but then a Geth worker asked its Quarian master questions like 'am I alive?' do I have a soul?'"

"So instead of answering the questions what did you do?" Bruce asked.

"They did the only thing they could, tried to decommission every Geth on the planet, and their numbers were just as vast as the Quarians?" Garrus explained.

"The way I see it they were trying to clean up their own mess," Wrex muttered.

"Somebody asks questions and you just decide to kill them, I don't know much about robotics but I do know that when you try to kill something that's alive its going to defend itself, how did you think the Geth would react?" Michael asked.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The team stopped as the Commander raised his voice. He cast sterns looks at Tali and Michael, no doubt expecting to talk to them later.

"What's done is done, the past can't be changed, nor can the motives be discussed or justified. Right now we have an AI on board, and even though it is a head, the robot has proven to be incredibly powerful…it's an asset I can't ignore," Shepard explained.

"But Commander…"

"I am the Commander of this ship Tali'Zorah, and as a Spectre I have the authority to make decisions and carry out operations from outside the laws guidance. Vision stays, if only to provide us information about what happened before it arrived, Michael you will supervise it and compose a report to me and Tali'Zorah of the androids personal history," Tali blinked in confusion over Shepard's decision.

"Commander, why must I read the report as well?" Tali asked.

"Consider it a learning experience," Shepard said. "But as of now Michael I want you to tell me everything you know about Captain Mar-Vell," he crossed his arms as he looked to Michael.

Michael nervously rubbed his neck. He had read plenty of books about Mar-Vell but he didn't think he knew enough to give a detailed history. Despite this he still stood up and told the team what he could:

"On my Earth Captain Mar-Vell was a Kree soldier originally sent to Earth to observe us when we began developing advanced space ships. Mar-Vell developed an affection for Earth and protected us when his superiors revealed they were invading, some of his history is a little complicated, he gained possession of powerful weapons 'Nega-bands' I think they were called, he got stuck in a place called the negative zone, fused with an earthling called Rick Jones and a lot of other spectacular things that you probably wouldn't believe. Mar-Vell was a protector of our universe, but he died in a way that seemed pretty unremarkable," Michael explained.

"This condition that the other Mar-Vell has, your Mar-Vell developed it as well didn't he?" Shepard asked.

"He got cancer after exposure to a gas, he died in bed surrounded by most of my world's heroes and then was posthumously accepted into the ranks of the Avengers," Michael sighed as he sat down.

The team grew silent, some stunned by Michael's revelation. Their shock over the briefing faded as Shepard bought up an image of a planet.

"This is Feros, our next destination and mission. Geth forces have begun to attack the colony of Zhu's Hope for as of yet unknown reasons," Shepard began, looking to the team for questions.

"What makes this Geth sighting different from the others?" Wrex asked.

"Most attacks have been carried out on alliance positions, there is no alliance presence on Feros. Zhu's Hope is sponsored by the Exo-Geni corporation, they have a building there that is apparently a research base. Zhu's Hope is also under attack," Shepard said.

"I see, so Exo-Geni must be hiding something on Zhu's Hope that warrants a full attack on the colony," Garrus stated.

"Our mission is to save the colony and investigate the Geth presence there, Exo-Geni will probably put the alliance under scrutiny if we dig into their secrets and while usually respect for the company's confidentially would be carried out, I do believe that the company has some knowledge of why the Geth attacked there," Shepard explained.

"So even though it'll give Udina a load of crap to deal with, we're going to investigate the company anyway?" Ashley asked.

"I'd say that's reason enough to get in Exo-Geni's way," Michael grinned.

"We will however be discreet, there's no need to put the ambassador under more pressure than he already is," Shepard said, though his voice didn't carry an ounce of sincerity.

In fact Michael could have sworn he saw a smile form on Shepard's face.

"An hour into our discovery mission I received a report from Admiral Hackett, an anomaly has also been detected in the Exo-Geni building. This gives us a chance to pick up another possible recruit or destroy another potential threat, Exo-Geni scientists will also have most likely have been able to study the anomaly before it disappeared," Shepard looked at each member of the team. "Now I need to make myself perfectly clear, the results of the anomaly related missions must remain top secret, but considering how wide the anomalies have been its safe to assume that there may already be people from other realities walking around our Earth. This doesn't have to be variations of Michael's reality, there may be variations of our own universe!"

"That would make sense, so far we have only seen alternate versions of our reality," Bruce said.

"You're saying that we need to be aware of possible different versions of ourselves?" Tali asked.

"I wouldn't go that far, it would be extremely unlikely for us to run into our counterparts," Shepard said.

"Anything's possible," Bruce grinned.

"I have heard of realities were genders are bended," Michael chuckled.

"HA! A woman Shepard, know that would be a sight to see," Wrex said.

Ashley and Kaidan resisted the urge to laugh, but they couldn't stop the smiles from forming. Shepard coughed to catch everyone's attention. The door opened and a tall, blonde haired man in Alliance fatigues walked in. Michael and Tali recognised him as Mar-Vell, whilst the others blinked in confusion.

"I thought this briefing was classified," Ashley said.

"Williams, everyone, this is Captain Mar-Vell, he'll be joining the ground team until we meet with the fleet, where he will transfer to Admiral Hackett's supervision," Shepard explained.

"While I do have skill as a xenobiologist, I insist on being put on a combat team," Mar-Vell said.

"Request denied, while your status is as a guest I will not have you causing a mass panic by revealing yourself to the galactic community," Shepard narrowed his eyes at Mar-Vell.

"Could you stop me then Commander?" Mar-Vell asked.

"We'll have to see wont we Captain?"

Wrex grinned as the two men looked at one another. Clearly Mar-Vell had challenged the Commander, and Shepard not being one to back down had issued a subtle reply. Liara nervously sunk into her chair, hoping that a fistfight wouldn't break out.

'Men,' Ashley thought, practically smelling the testosterone.

"Can I ask something, where was Mar-Vell's suit stored?" Tali cautiously raised her hand.

"I'm still wearing it, the suit is in its resting state," Mar-Vell said.

"How does it work?"

"Other than revealing my condition I don't make a habit of revealing Kree secrets, but this is a time that calls for cooperation, I will brief you all on the events that transpired in my universe," Mar-Vell explained.

The Captain walked to Shepard's side, looking over the other team members. He took a short breath and began relaying his story:

_Vision and I come from a universe, or an Earth designated as 504. In this universe I had been analysing the human's technology to discover what level of force they would require to conquer. At the time my people were at war with the Skrulls, a race of shape shifters that had resorted to war when we had attacked them hundreds of years ago. However over the course of my investigation I came to respect the Earth's heroes. A Skrull infiltrator had also seen the qualities of the Avengers. After a series of debates she and I convinced the Avengers to intervene in the war between our people. They did so and a select number of Avengers helped us to join two rebel groups that had allied against their respective regimes._

_Ronan the Accuser, a judge on our world who saw injustice in the enslavement of the people we had conquered, led the Kree rebellion. Likewise the Skrull world followed their own hero, Kl'rt the Super Skrull had come to see that his Empress Veranke had driven their ancient religion into a war mongering movement. Ronan and Kl'rt joined their forces with the Avengers aiding them. After a few years of conflict which saw many casualties, the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree was eventually destroyed by the Avengers leader Iron Man, while Veranke's ship was destroyed when Steve Rogers, my Michael Van Patrick's predecessor rammed his ship into Veranke's._

_The Kree and the Skrull were joined in an uneasy peace. Ronan took command of the Kree, while Veranke's cousin Anelle became empress. She united the two peoples by giving birth to the first hybrid child, the result of a union between her and a Kree soldier she had fallen in love with. Some of the Avengers returned to Earth, with Iron Man passing the Captain America shield onto my universe's Michael Van Patrick. Vision and a few other Avengers stayed to act as peacekeepers during the uneasy period._

"Wow, I become Captain America," Michael said.

"What's the significance of putting a country name after your rank?" Ashley asked.

"Captain America is a legend in most universes, he's my role model!"

_One day, Vision and I were assigned to a scouting fleet to venture into Phalanx territory. The Phalanx collective had taken that robot Ultron as their leader and were preparing to launch an attack on organics throughout the galaxy. My scouting party and I unwittingly stumbled upon the horde, and something else that formed in the dark of space. A space time anomaly much like the ones your searching for had appeared. But unlike the one that had bought Michael Van Patrick into this world, the space time anomaly we encountered was the size of a planet, approximately the mass of Mars if your looking for an exact description. Not only did it pull ships in, it also sent ships out._

"_We are reading unknown alloys and energy signature sir," my radar operator had said to me._

"_We're losing contact with our ships fast sir, they're screaming," the communications officer shared the fear every other member of my crew felt at the time._

_The ships that came out of dark space were monstrous. They seemed to emanate this sound inside our minds, like a digital roar. Our psychic Moondragon had already been driven insane by the roars. She kept on yelling about the restoration of order in the universe. Moondragon even attacked some of my men and would have catastrophic damage to the ship if it hadn't been for Vision's wife the Scarlet Witch._

_Wanda and Moondragon engaged in a flashy fight of carefully aimed energy blasts. The Scarlet Witch eventually managed to kill Moondragon and used her powers to tip the scales of luck in our favour. Together the allied fleet and even the Phalanx managed to destroy two of those monstrous ships. But the other two decimated our other ships. The Phalanx were destroyed when Ultron blew his own fleet up, claiming to be under the orders of the Reapers._

"The Reapers," Shepard growled.

"They managed to get to other universes, its not just this world that's been affected, our worlds have been affected too," Bruce explained.

Michael widened his eyes as he considered what this meant. He dreaded what may have happened to his universe if the Reapers ever went there. But a small spark of hope lit up Michael's eyes.

"They wouldn't have succeeded in taking the rest of the universe, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, any one team or even one hero would have found a way to stop them," he explained.

Mar-Vell nodded his head in agreement, despite the pessimism of the others.

_I still remember one of those ships. It had somehow possessed Ultron and empowered it. Ultron leapt from the explosion of his ship and crashed onto mine. He formed a massive hull breach that killed many members of my crew and Vision's in laws Quicksilver and Crystal. Ultron worked his way through the ship, killing my crew and eventually reaching the bridge. I managed to escape the bridge with a few others just before Ultron and Vision clashed in battle. They engaged in a vicious fight that even took them outside. I watched from a turret camera as Vision and Ultron were pulled into the anomaly, followed shortly by what was left of my ship._

"Wait, but if your bridge was destroyed, how did your crew survive the crash onto the planet?" Tali asked.

Mar-Vell turned his head, sighing as he closed his eyes.

_Visions wife, the Scarlet Witch used all of her power to create a miracle. After they shared one last kiss they both threw themselves and Ultron out of the bridge. While Vision held off Ultron, Wanda used one final spell to protect the ship. I watched her body burn in through entering the planet's atmosphere. But even when she died the spell that protected the ship didn't fade. We crash landed on the ship and afterwards were attacked by what was left of Ultron, still spouting the nonsense that the Reapers had filled him with. He killed my men and I hid until you all showed up._

"And that is when it all happened, my understanding of how it happened is limited but my expertise is warfare and xenobiology, so I cant comment on dimensional theory and practice," Mar-Vell said.

"My god, the Reapers are real," Ashley muttered.

The whole team remained earily silent, so much so that it caused Mar-Vell to huff.

"The Reapers are nothing in comparison to some of the threats my universe has faced before," he said.

"A race of machines that destroys all life in the galaxy, how can anything be worse than that?" Garrus asked.

"A singular being that is so powerful that it must consume planets to survive, try to imagine that," Mar-Vell spoke casually, and both Bruce and Michael knew exactly what he was talking about. "The Reapers can be stopped, and I will help you to do it," he said as he turned to Shepard.

"If it's a choice between returning home or stopping the Reapers, which would it be?" Shepard asked.

Mar-Vell didn't answer the question and instead lowered his head solemnly. Shepard could tell that Mar-Vell had left a lot more behind than just his home planet. Yet he couldn't decide between avenging his comrades or quite possibly returning to whatever family was waiting for him.

"Won't your condition limit how much you can help us?" Kaidan asked.

"Even if I have to crawl out of bed by my chin, I'll still find some way to fight the Reapers," Mar-Vell said.

"The Citadel has some of the finest palliative care services…"

"I WILL NOT SPEND MY LAST DAYS IN BED!" Mar-Vell yelled.

"Hey take it easy, Liara was just saying…"

"No Michael, its quite all right, I shouldn't have interfered," Liara lowered her head.

"I am sorry Doctor T'Soni, its just I don't want to be pitied because of my condition, I wish to be treated as a soldier not a patient or a scientist," Mar-Vell explained.

"As a soldier, you'll be assigned to research, that is the area you will be of most use against the Reapers," Shepard said.

Mar-Vell huffed, but promptly shrugged his shoulders.

"Very well Commander," he sighed.

"Everyone, dismissed!"

The team gradually began to exit the briefing room, leaving Shepard at the communications terminal.

"Commander, I've got Admiral Hackett on the line, want me to patch him through?" Joker asked.

"Go ahead Joker," Shepard said as he stood to attention.

The grizzled and scarred visage of Hackett slowly formed on the hologram.

"Shepard, I'm sorry to hear of the casualties, I guess we should have known that this wouldn't be a simple investigation," Hackett sighed.

"The casualties were unavoidable considering the situation sir, but my ground team proved to be sturdy under fire, even Doctor T'Soni coped better than the other marines," Shepard said.

Hackett nodded his head as he put a hand to his chin, "It seems we underestimated the doctor and her biotics, if so then I recommend you use her for combat just as much as you do research!"

"I agree Admiral, it's a sentiment I share for the person I'll be transferring to you after Feros."

"Yes, Doctor Chakwas sent me the medical file for this Mar-Vell person. His advanced technology is something that may come in handy, but it could also be a potential problem, that and his alien origins could also lead to political problems wit the Citadel, but eventually they'll have to find out," Hackett explained.

"It'll certainly be better for us to tell them as opposed to them finding out later on, but these space time anomalies might mean more then we think. In fact I don't think we're the only ones looking into them," Shepard said.

"Your right Shepard, Cerberus recently carried out an unsanctioned raid on a Batarian colony," a dark look crossed Hackett's face, one Shepard shared. "As you know, Cerberus operatives had shown exceptional dedication to humanity, but very little concern for aliens, this operation they carried out has resulted in the alliance disavowing the entirety of the Cerberus special ops division of the military. But not even that has stopped them, I have a contact in C-Sec who sent me a report concerning an incident between Cerberus operatives and an unnamed human. As soon as you have the time read the report and use your Spectre authority to take over the C-Sec investigation."

"Is this an order Admiral?" Shepard asked.

"It's a request Commander, you're a Spectre so you don't have to fall in line when you've been given a council order, I only ask that you at least take the time to investigate the Cerberus lead and if it has no connection to these anomalies then you can leave it to C-Sec," Hackett explained.

Shepard nodded his head, saluting before Hackett cut the communication feed. Elsewhere Michael moved Vision into a storage area behind the Mako. He placed the head on a set of crates, sheepishly scratching his head as he stepped back.

"It's not exactly as comfortable as the quarters the others have, but I'll try to convince Lieutenant Alenko to at least let you come up and work with him," he explained.

"That is quite all right, I do not require pillows or any other materials for comfort," Vision said.

"I see, well I'll email a Codex to your hard drive, are you getting anything?" Michael asked as he bought up his Omni-Tool.

"Yes, it seems my neural network is compatible with the Omni-tools. I have already began composing firewalls for potentially dangerous viruses, hmm the cultural history of the Asari is quite interesting, I am curious as to how they have developed beyond the other species."

"Wait, you've read the Codex already?"

"Yes, I am capable of processing data at a much faster rate, particularly now that I must focus on my information storage abilities to be of use," Vision explained.

"Okay, if that's so could you look up Doctor Liara T'Soni?" Michael asked.

"Daughter of Matriarch Benezia, the youngest graduate of numerous Thessian universities, gained doctorates in: archaeology, xenobiology and astrology. She is currently the galaxy's leading expert in Prothean archaeology and has published many papers theorising their history as an expanding empire. It is interesting to state that in her writings only the Protheans are listed as a space faring species, it may be possible that the Prothean's adopted other races into their empire and thus named them Prothean," the robot listed and read the detailed information, but also gave his own opinion.

Michael smiled; this was definitely the Vision his Avengers would be familiar with.

"You should probably talk to Liara about this, I could take you up there if you want," Michael said.

"No thank you, you can feel free to pass my theory onto the Doctor if you wish, after all you will be speaking with her anyway," Vision said.

"Okay then, well I'll come down later then," Michael sighed as he began walking away.

The young man stopped and turned towards Vision.

"Listen Vision, I didn't know her, not your version of her or mine, but I'm really sorry about what happened to the Scarlet Witch," Michael said.

Vision lowered his eyes, looking at the ground as he spoke two words:

"Thank you!"

Michael nodded his head and slowly walked away. Vision scanned the room, noting that only the Gunnery Chief had a view of his position. She had her back turned, working on one of the many rifles under her supervision. Garrus was working on the front of the Mako, adjusting the suspension on the tires. Ashley sighed as she put the adjusted and clean rifle on the workbench. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned to take her break. But in doing so Ashley saw something that helped her see the difference between the ghostly synthezoid and the Geth. Vision was capable of crying.

Next Chapter 18: Carnage

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Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. It was short for my other ones but I wanted it to be. I wanted to establish Vision and Mar-Vell on the crew, as well as begin casting the point forward at the end that Vision isn't an ordinary machine.


End file.
